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ESPN Projects 49ers Rookie LB Nick Martin to Make Big Impact

It's no secret that the 49ers are counting on lots of rookies to start and make an impact in 2025.
Grant Cohn|
May 9, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, left, watches draftee Nick Martin (45) during the teamís rookie minicamp. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
May 9, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, left, watches draftee Nick Martin (45) during the teamís rookie minicamp. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

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It's no secret that the 49ers are counting on lots of rookies to start and make an impact in 2025.

The 49ers could start as many five rookies Week 1 if things go according to plan. And that's why ESPN's Field Yates ranks 49ers third-round pick Nick Martin fifth among defensive rookies drafted after Round 1 in terms of who will make the greatest impact this year.

"The 49ers entered the draft with a need at one starting linebacker spot after Dre Greenlaw left in free agency, and Martin can fill it," writes Yates. "He lacks ideal size at 6-foot and (221) pounds, but he makes up for it with electric speed and a fearless nature on every snap. Martin showed legitimate pass-rush instincts in 2023, too, with six sacks. And while he was injured for most of 2024, his 140 tackles in 2023 were the most by any Oklahoma State player since 1984."

Yates is correct that Martin will have every opportunity to start right away next to Fred Warner, but he will have to compete for the job with third-year linebacker Dee Winters who started 10 games last season and recorded 44 tackles.

Winters is 5'11", 227 pounds and he runs a 4.49, so he's just as explosive as Martin, plus he's slightly thicker and has two years of NFL experience.

I'm not so sure that Martin will be better than Winters right away. Martin might take a year to reach his full potential.

This is a position battle to watch.

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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.

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