The San Francisco 49ers got through the 2026 NFL Draft, and while many analysts thought the Niners did a pretty bad job, they did get some intriguing players.
One such player is linebacker Jaden Dugger who was selected in the fifth round. He has a lot of similarities to linebackers coach K.J. Wright, so the two could be a perfect match.
As Matt Barrows of The Athletic noted in his analysis of San Francisco's draft, the two share similar body types and are taller than a usual linebacker.
"The fit between him and linebackers coach K.J. Wright — an ex-linebacker with similar height, weight and length — appears to be a good one," Barrows writes.
Wright was listed at 6-foot-4 and weighed 246 pounds as a player. Dugger clocks in at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, so he, too, has a pretty imposing size for a linebacker. Just for reference, Fred Warner is 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds while Dre Greenlaw is 6-foot and 230 pounds.
It is going to be interesting to see how San Francisco chooses to utilize Dugger. Warner and Greenlaw are going to be the starters as long as they are healthy, but the Niners also have Tatum Bethune, Nick Martin, Garret Wallow, and Luke Gifford on the depth chart.
Barrows also noted that, given Dugger's size, he could make for a nice matchup against opposing tight ends. The Niners struggled to adequately cover tight ends last season, and part of that certainly had to do with being decimated at the position, but they also didn't have the size to go up against big-bodied tight ends.
Even though Wright was a bit bigger than the average linebacker, he still had an outstanding career. He was a solid player for years with the Seattle Seahawks and even earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2016. After getting promoted to linebackers coach in the offseason, it would not shock anyone if Wright ends up being the defensive coordinator in a few years, so he could help oversee Dugger's development for a while.
Dugger had 64 solo tackles and four sacks in his last season at Louisiana. Defensive line coach Kris Kocurek and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris have to be salivating at the thought of using him as a rusher, so there are many different ways Dugger could be utilized.
But, pairing him with Wright might bring about some special results, as the coach knows exactly what it takes to be a good NFL player at the size Dugger is at.
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