Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Saturday, February 8th, 2025
Source: Bradley hired by 49ers as defensive assistant under Saleh
“The hiring of Bradley also sets up a logical succession plan for the 49ers at defensive coordinator if Saleh were to leave the organization after next season for another head-coaching opportunity.
Saleh was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator from 2017-2020 before the New York Jets hired him as head coach. The Jets fired Saleh just five games into his fourth season in charge.
Brandon Staley, the former Los Angeles Chargers head coach, who was a 49ers defensive assistant, is uncertain to remain with San Francisco in 2025.”
49ers NFL Draft big board: 26 players to watch at 4 big-bodied positions of need (paywall)
“Mykel Williams, Georgia: Williams has a nice combination of speed, power and relentlessness, and the 49ers will like how quickly he comes off the line of scrimmage. He’ll have to get used to putting his hand in the dirt and playing a true defensive end position. (It took former Georgia linebacker Floyd half the season to do that in 2024.) But once that transition is complete the 49ers — finally — would have a true bookend to Bosa.
Mike Green, Marshall: Green is coming off a superb week of Senior Bowl practices in which he looked like one of the best pass rushers in the draft. His forte is quickness and bend, which he used to rack up 17 sacks last season at Marshall. (He had at least a half-sack in every game he played). There’s a concern that he’s too small to be a three-down player. But he showed a better-than-expected bull rush in Mobile, Ala., at one point knocking down Conerly like he was a bowling pin.
James Pearce Jr., Tennessee: Pearce is the most fluid of the top defensive ends and had a knack for looping inside and catching guards and centers by surprise. His athleticism — notably his get-off — ought to be on display later this month at the NFL Scouting Combine.”
“They gonna be special”: Deebo Samuel on mentoring 49ers’ young WRs
“I can’t go in here and be this [frustrated] guy because, at the end of the day, I want to be the best leader I can for them,” Samuel told Kay Adams in New Orleans ahead of Super Bowl LIX. “I tell them both every day—I see them out there, I see them in the meeting rooms—’Like, bro, you two, you boys got what it takes to be what the league needs for as a player.’”
Samuel has developed a particularly strong bond with Cowing, as the two have connected over their shared experience of fatherhood.
“But them two young guys, they gonna be special,” Samuel said. “They gonna be real special.”
Samuel admits that he may not fit the mold of a traditional locker-room leader in the eyes of the outside world. He’s not one to deliver rousing speeches in front of the entire team. Instead, he leads by example and only chooses to speak up when he sees something that needs to be addressed.
“I’m not like a big rah-rah guy to get in front of the team and [give motivational speeches],” Samuel explained. “I’m really a guy putting the pads on, ‘Let’s go to work.’ If I see some things that I know you don’t do, and you do, then I’d be like, ‘Yo, bro, I ain’t never seen you do this before. Where does it come from?’”
49ers land ‘most slept-on prospect’ in CBS Sports mock draft
“Based on what I’ve seen to this point, Nolen is the most slept-on prospect in the draft,” Fornelli wrote. “He is a large, disruptive force in the middle of your defensive line and strikes me as the kind of player Robert Saleh loves at that spot.”
Over his final two college football seasons—one at Texas A&M and one at Ole Miss—Nolen recorded 10.5 sacks. In 2024, he posted 48 tackles, 6.5 sacks, and three passes defensed.
Nolen earned an impressive 91.6 run defense grade from Pro Football Focus last season, ranking second nationally among defensive linemen. His skill set could be especially appealing to the 49ers, who struggled against the run in 2024.
Fornelli highlights that the abundance of pass rushers in this year’s draft class and the more limited depth among interior defensive linemen could lead the 49ers to target a player like Nolen with their first-round pick.”