The San Francisco 49ers understood they needed to add more young talent to the roster after an underwhelming season in 2024.
The 2025 NFL draft was a great avenue that allowed San Francisco to bring in more playmakers, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They drafted six guys on defense, with three of them being on the defensive line.
In the second round (43rd overall), the 49ers selected DT Alfred Collins, and that may be bad news for DT Kevin Givens going into the 2025 season.
Kevin Givens May Be on Thin Ice for the 49ers
Givens joined San Francisco as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and spent the last six seasons with them. Throughout his time there, he's served as a depth piece, playing in at least 28% of the defensive snaps for the past five seasons.
In 65 games (14 starts), he has supplied 90 total tackles, 18 TFLs, and eight sacks. Meanwhile, he has never logged a PFF grade over 60 and finished with a run-defense grade of fewer than 47 in three straight campaigns.
Last season, he finished with a 49.6 overall grade (149th among 219 graded defensive linemen), 68.2 pass-rush grade (39th among 219 graded defensive linemen), and a 38.4 run-defense grade (190th among 219 graded defensive linemen).
He's inked a one-year deal for four straight seasons but his play left a ton to be desired last season. And that's where Collins steps in.
The Texas product is a run-stuffer along the interior, who does a great job as a two-gapper, stacking and shedding blocks to slow down runners inside the tackles. He's agile on his feet and owns outstanding play recognition skills. An underrated part of his game is how he gets his hands up at the line of scrimmage to bat passes down.
In 64 collegiate games, Collins had 142 total tackles, 18 TFLs, 7.5 sacks, and 13 pass deflections. Considering the 49ers used a top 50 asset on him, they likely have high hopes that he can contribute immediately. He was a true run-stuffer in college, and with Givens' struggles in that area, Collins could easily take his spot and push Givens to the curb, as we know, stopping the run is huge in the NFL.