CJ West

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said West suffered a bone chip in his knee. The injury will require surgery. He is expected to return this season. The 49ers correspondingly signed DT Naquan Jones to the active roster and DT Viliami Fehoko to the practice squad, and released CB Jakob Robinson.

Shanahan said West’s ACL appears to be intact after undergoing initial tests, saying West suffered an injury similar to that of DL Mykel Williams. The team used fourth- and first-round picks on West and Williams, respectively, this offseason.

West (6’1/316) honed his craft at Kent State for the first four years of his collegiate tenure, starting 12 contests with 40 tackles, 7.0 TFLs and 80th+ percentile grades in both the run and pass phases of the game. He transferred to Indiana last year and continued to ascend with 7.5 TFLs, a 11.4-percent run stop rate and an elite 88.1 run defense grade. He blazed a 4.95s 40-yard dash (88th-percentile) with a 33” vertical (93rd-percentile) and 28 bench reps (76th-percentile) for an excellent 9.16 RAS. His lack of height and length is offset by West’s quick first step, high motor and lateral agility. He’s always grinding to get off blocks and working counters to shoot gaps and stuff run plays. His sawed-off proportions make it difficult for him to beat blockers to first contact on the rush, but he’s able to hold ground and disengage to make plays in run support. West has early down rotational potential if he can cut down on his 17.6-percent career missed tackle rate.