The San Francisco 49ers invested a lot of draft capital in young defensive players during the 2025 NFL Draft.
Two players, defensive tackle Alfred Collins and linebacker Nick Martin, seemed poised to earn starting roles, but that may not be the case after training camp.
Collins was selected in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft while Martin was selected in the third. Given how high both were selected, there was an expectation they would both be starters in their rookie seasons.
After San Francisco revamped the defensive line and moved on from the likes of Maliek Collins and Javon Hargrave in the offseason, Collins was viewed as a replacement for those guys. Similarly, Martin was seen as a replacement for Dre Greenlaw, who departed in free agency and signed with the Denver Broncos.
In training camp, it seems neither player has fully grasped their opportunity as of yet.
Collins has gotten off to a slow start, which is understandable since he missed some time with a calf injury. The Texas product has spoken about having to adjust to a new defensive line scheme, and it seems he is still trying to grasp this new system in practice.
As for Martin, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has praised him as of late, but it seems the rookie has to make up ground in the competition for the starting job against Dee Winters.
Winters has earned rave reviews for his performance in training camp, and some already believe there is a sizable gap between him and Martin for the starting job. San Francisco is still betting that Martin can come into his own, though.
It is obviously still very early for both of these rookies. They are in no way busts, nor should they be pushed aside. It is tough for a rookie to break into the NFL and earn a starting job in his first season.
For both Collins and Martin, it may simply take them a little more time to get acclimated to a new situation and learn all the intricacies of San Francisco's defense.
The fact that they will have to earn the starting role will be beneficial in the long run because they are going to have to outperform veterans ahead of them on the depth chart. That will make them stronger and give them more confidence when it is their time.
We should still see a lot of both players in the preseason, so if they can impress in those games, they could make a late push to earn the starting role before Week 1.