All 49ers

The 49ers See Similarities Between CJ West and DJ Jones

After the draft, general manager John Lynch acknowledged their similarities.
Grant Cohn|
Indiana defensive lineman C.J. West speaks to the media during the 2025 NFL draft.
Indiana defensive lineman C.J. West speaks to the media during the 2025 NFL draft. | Clark Wade/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

This year, the 49ers drafted three defensive linemen with their first five picks.

The third defensive linemen they took -- Indiana defensive tackle C.J. West -- is similar to a defensive tackle the 49ers picked on Day 3 of the 2017 NFL Draft -- D.J. Jones, who currently is a key member of the Denver Broncos elite defense.

After the draft, general manager John Lynch acknowledged their similarities.

"I was just looking at my notes again and (defensive line coach) Kris Kocurek said, ‘D.J. Jones comp.’ And so, I think there are a lot of similarities and that's a good thing for us.”

Jones has started every game he has played in since 2019 and is an outstanding run defender. If West can make a similar impact, he will be a great pick for the 49ers.

"We had some departures this offseason and we felt it was important to restock," Lynch explained. "Not just with guys. We wanted to put guys that fit our vision for what we want that room to be. And we've talked about Alfred Collins. C.J. is the same way.

"C.J., I think, if we're talking about him, extremely stout, sturdy, but also has the quickness and strength to play in the other team's backfield. Makes a lot of splash plays in the other team's backfield. I had the chance to watch him live this year when we went back to Ohio State. Indiana was there and made an impression in that game. But more so his film, his body of work has really stood out and we just felt like was a really good fit. Another add to the D-Line we're building.”

West played the first four seasons of his collegiate career at Kent State and performed extremely well. In 2024, he transferred to Indiana and maintained his performance, recording 2 sacks, 8 tackles for loss and an impressive 11.4 run-stop win rate.

On the 49ers, he'll line up between the center and guard and his no. 1 job will be to stuff the rub up the middle.

"I just abuse centers," West explained after getting picked. "Punch them in the face, be as violent as possible, just creating havoc down there in the middle."

Good to know.

Read more

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Share on XFollow grantcohn
Home/News