A five-year college run-stuffer who turned a Kent State-to-Indiana transfer into a fourth-round trip to San Francisco.
C.J. West is a run-clogging defensive tackle who spent most of his college career overshadowed before a big final season at Indiana pushed him into the 2025 draft. Now with the 49ers, the 316-pounder is working to translate his college power into consistent snaps on San Francisco's interior line.
Path to the league
West began his college career at Kent State before transferring to Indiana for the 2024 season, his fifth and final year of eligibility. He was named honorable mention All-Big Ten after piling up 42 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and two sacks for a Hoosiers team that had a breakout year. The 49ers drafted him in the fourth round, 113th overall, in the 2025 NFL Draft, the highest a Hoosier had gone since tight end Ian Thomas in 2018.
Career highlights
Across five collegiate seasons at Kent State and Indiana, West totaled 150 tackles, 27 of them for loss, along with nine sacks, two forced fumbles and two passes defensed. At 6-foot-1 and 316 pounds, he ran a 4.95-second 40-yard dash and posted a 33-inch vertical jump at the NFL Scouting Combine, athletic testing numbers that stood out for an interior defensive lineman his size.
2025 season recap
West appeared in 14 regular season games as a rookie for San Francisco, finishing with 21 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack while playing roughly a third of the defensive snaps. He added five tackles, two more tackles for loss and a sack across two playoff appearances, showing more as a pass rusher than as a run defender in his first pro season.
Sources
- Wikipedia: CJ West
- Pro Football Reference: C.J. West
- 49ers Webzone: 49ers select Indiana DT CJ West
Statistics
2025 season and career2025 Season · Defense
14 games played▶Defense · career
| Year | Team | GP | TOT | SOLO | SACK | INT | FF | FR | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 49ers | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 49ers | 14 | 21 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Defensive Tackle
- Group
- injuredReserveOrOut
- College
- Indiana
- Hometown
- Chicago, IL, USA
- Age
- 24
- Status
- day-to-day
Latest news about C.J. West
All news →49ers' Dre Greenlaw Suspended One Game for Head-Butting a Helmetless Ernest Jones IV
Greenlaw was ejected in the second quarter at Seattle after a late hit on Sam Darnold and an exchange with Jones, his third career ejection. The league also fined him $11,941 for conduct the week before.
AI Predicts Every Week 5 Game of the 2026 NFL Season
After an 11-of-16 Week 4, the model picks all 15 Week 5 games, from Thursday's Buccaneers-Cowboys to Bills-Rams on Monday night, with 49ers-Seahawks and Ravens-Falcons the closest calls.
49ers Lose Kyle Juszczyk, Marques Sigle and Upton Stout to Injuries in Win Over Broncos
Update: the NFL rescinded Juszczyk's $14,926 fine after acknowledging his celebration was a juice box, not a beer. He is expected to miss two to three weeks with a knee sprain and bone bruise.
49ers Put Starting DT C.J. West on IR, Sign Naquan Jones and Add Brandin Cooks to Practice Squad
West needs surgery on a bone chip in a knee that has bothered him since camp. San Francisco is down to two of the five defensive tackles that made the roster, and DeMarcus Robinson is out three to six weeks with a high ankle sprain.
