The 49ers are now staring at a hole on the defensive line after losing starting defensive tackle Alfred Collins for the season with a torn patellar tendon he suffered Tuesday in Australia during practice.
That kind of injury carries a recovery window of 6 to 12 for most people, but for professional athletes it can be much more serious. Former 49ers center Weston Richburg tore his patellar tendon in 2019 and never played again. Collins is only 24, which gives him a better shot than Richburg had at 28, but there’s another wrinkle here: Collins weighs more than 330 pounds, and he may need to trim down so his knee has less weight to carry.
This is a brutal setback for a player who had been trending up. Collins was the 49ers’ second-round pick last season, got off to a slow start as a rookie, then kept improving and finished the year as the best run defender on the defensive line who was still healthy.
But the offseason brought shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum, and when he got back on the field in training camp, he never quite looked right. He had trouble disengaging from blockers, which suggests the shoulder may still have been bothering him, and his conditioning wasn’t where it needed to be.
That showed up in a rough preseason.
Even before the knee injury, the 49ers may have been weighing other choices to start next to defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa.
The list of options is thin. Second-year defensive tackle CJ West had a rough training camp.
Undrafted rookie free agent James Thompson Jr. had a good camp, but he’s injured right now. Rookie fourth-round pick Gracen Halton flashed during the preseason before an ankle injury, and he appears healthy now.
None of those answers is ideal. West seems like the likeliest stopgap because he was a fourth-round pick last year and has game experience. Halton, though, could end up taking the job sooner rather than later if he proves he can play and stay healthy.
There’s one more detail that matters here: Collins wasn’t a three-down player. He was used on first and second down, then came off the field on third down for a defensive end sliding inside to tackle.
Early in the season, that would be Keion White. In a few months, it will be Mykel Williams.
So while Collins’ injury does not automatically sink the 49ers’ season, it does leave a shallow spot even more exposed.
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49ers Lose Another D Lineman As One Front Issue Grows
San Franciscos defensive front took another hit Monday when defensive tackle Alfred Collins suffered a torn patellar tendon, a setback that will keep him out for the entire season. Kyle Shanahan confirmed the injury, adding another layer of uncertainty to a group that has already had to deal with its share of moving parts up front.
The 49ers are now looking at practice squad call-ups to patch the roster spot, a reminder that depth on the defensive line can disappear quickly over the course of a season. Collins is expected to be ready for training camp in 2026 if his recovery goes well, but for now the immediate concern is how San Francisco keeps its rotation intact without another key body in the middle. [Read more 🡒]
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Alaric Jackson is also expected to play despite a recent domestic violence charge, a situation that stands in contrast to other players who have landed on the NFL commissioner exempt list. For the 49ers, the bigger picture is simple: a divisional rival opens the year with key names on the field and one of the league's most disruptive defenders out of the mix, which changes the tone of the matchup even before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Suddenly Face A Bigger Stability Question Than Fans Expected
The 49ers have already spent much of this offseason dealing with the usual roster-and-coaching chatter that follows a disappointing finish, but a new report is pushing the conversation higher up the ladder. Jason La Canfora, writing for Casino Guru, says there is unrest inside the ownership group and points to a turbulent stretch around the franchise, with anonymous sources describing personal conflicts within the York family and a sense that the organization is entering a more uncertain phase.
The report also folds in the departure of executive Paraag Marathe and broader speculation about the teams direction, including possible coaching changes and a decline in stability around the building. Even so, the claims come with a caution flag attached, given the questions that have followed La Canforas reporting in the past, which leaves this as the kind of story 49ers fans will keep an eye on rather than take at face value just yet. [Read more 🡒]