{"id":271409,"date":"2026-04-29T14:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T14:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/271409\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T14:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T14:22:08","slug":"did-nfl-draft-add-playmakers-to-raheem-morris-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/271409\/","title":{"rendered":"Did NFL Draft add playmakers to Raheem Morris’ defense?"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2013 Romello Height<\/a> hung up the phone, exchanged hugs, took off his jacket and, with a red 49ers cap on his head, jumped into a backyard pool to celebrate draft night.<\/p>\n

That dip move was quite fitting from the first defensive player drafted by the 49ers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New defensive coordinator Raheem Morris entered draft week vowing to throw his own pool party if things went his way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis whole thing all draft is, \u2018If we draft this guy, I\u2019m throwing a pool party,\u2019 so we\u2019re hoping we\u2019re having a lot of pool parties for Raheem,\u201d general manager John Lynch<\/a> said last Monday, four days before Height arrived with a third-round pick.<\/p>\n

The 49ers\u2019 defensive depth chart isn\u2019t as jumbled after this draft as last year\u2019s, and more impact players could arrive before training camp or the season opener in Australia. Here is how it looks:<\/p>\n

DEFENSIVE END<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Nick Bosa<\/p>\n

2. Mykel Williams<\/p>\n

3. Keion White<\/p>\n

4. Sam Okuayinonu<\/p>\n

5. Cameron Sample<\/p>\n

6. Romello Height<\/p>\n

7. William Bradley-King<\/p>\n

8. Andrew Farmer II<\/p>\n

9. Mikail Kamara<\/p>\n

Analysis: This isn\u2019t a menacing unit that has been wildly upgraded after last season\u2019s NFL-low 20 sacks. Essentially, the 49ers are banking on ACL comebacks from Bosa and Williams, plus any jolt from rookie Height, plus veterans White, Okuayinonu and Sample. Sure, there\u2019s room for Joey Bosa on the roster and under the cap, but still no sign of an imminent deal or interest on his end.<\/p>\n

DEFENSIVE TACKLE<\/p>\n

1. Osa Odighizuwa<\/p>\n

2. Alfred Collins<\/p>\n

3. C.J. West<\/p>\n

4. Gracen Halton<\/p>\n

5. Sebastian Valdez<\/p>\n

6. Evan Anderson<\/p>\n

7. James Thompson<\/p>\n

8. Bryson Eason<\/p>\n

Analysis: This could be the 49ers\u2019 best interior presence in years, so long as Odighizuwa flourishes away from the Cowboys and is complemented by the youngsters next to him. Collins is coming off shoulder surgery so he\u2019s likely limited this offseason, which opens reps for West, Valdez and others to earn a spot in the rotation.<\/p>\n

LINEBACKER<\/p>\n

1. Fred Warner<\/p>\n

2. Dre Greenlaw<\/p>\n

3. Luke Gifford<\/p>\n

4. Tatum Bethune<\/p>\n

5. Garrett Wallow<\/p>\n

6. Nick Martin<\/p>\n

7. Jalen Graham<\/p>\n

8. Jaden Dugger<\/p>\n

9. Milo Eifler<\/p>\n

Analysis: All seems right with the 49ers\u2019 defensive world when there is a Warner-Greenlaw tandem again. But both endured major injuries last season, and the 49ers need them at full power to take charge defensively. Great depth here prompted them to trade Dee Winters to Dallas in the final year of his contract. It will be interesting to see who the strong-side backer is between Bethune, Gifford, Martin and Dugger, who is a fifth-round wild card that can line up at various spots.<\/p>\n

CORNERBACK<\/p>\n

1. Deommodore Lenoir<\/p>\n

2. Renardo Green<\/p>\n

3. Upton Stout<\/p>\n

4. Nate Hobbs<\/p>\n

5. Jack Jones<\/p>\n

6. Darrell Luter Jr.<\/p>\n

7. Ephesians Prysock<\/p>\n

8. Eli Apple<\/p>\n

9. Tre Tomlinson<\/p>\n

10. Jakob Robinson<\/p>\n

Analysis: Prysock, a fourth-round pick, is highly intriguing and joins a unit that\u2019s largely stocked with homegrown talent, including the returning top trio of Lenoir, Green and Stout. Hobbs and Jones could have a say in that starting unit if they make plays through the next few months.<\/p>\n

SAFETY<\/p>\n

1. Malik Mustapha<\/p>\n

2. Ji\u2019Ayir Brown<\/p>\n

3. Marques Sigle<\/p>\n

4. Siran Neal<\/p>\n

5. Derrick Canteen<\/p>\n

6. Darrick Forrest<\/p>\n

7. Jalen Stroman<\/p>\n

Analysis: No safety was drafted for the first time in four years, though that\u2019s not to say the 49ers are dead set on their Mustapha-Brown pairing. Sigle could be in play if he makes strides this offseason. Stroman arrived as an undrafted free agent from Notre Dame.<\/p>\n

SPECIAL TEAMS<\/p>\n

Eddy Pi\u00f1eiro (K)<\/p>\n

Corliss Waitman (P)<\/p>\n

Jack Bouwmeester (P)<\/p>\n

Jon Weeks (LS)<\/p>\n

Analysis: Aside from searching for a new return specialist to replace Skyy Moore, intriguing competition is set to replace punter Thomas Moorstead. That will come down to either the veteran Waitman or undrafted Bouwmeester, who would be playing in his home country as the Week 1 punter Down Under.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2013 Romello Height hung up the phone, exchanged hugs, took off his jacket and, with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,3267,100975,80,73515,13599,6458,154],"class_list":["post-271409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news","tag-california","tag-central-coast","tag-nfl","tag-northern-california","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}