The biggest difference in the 49ers defense is on full display already in training camp

We are seeing how much height, weight, and arm length make a difference up front for the 49ers defense

There was no Alfred Collins on the roster last season. They don’t make ‘em like Mykel Williams. A quick look at the San Francisco 49ers‘ defensive line suggests that Robert Saleh wanted to transition away from the finesse, pass-rush first players that were on the roster during the previous two seasons, back to playing bully ball with the big boys.

Collins makes C.J. West, a 316-pound human, look small.

I wondered what the difference was between the 2024 starting defensive line for the 49ers and the projected starters this season. I used the smaller Jordan Elliott, he’s three inches taller but 14 pounds lighter than West, as the starter alongside Williams, Collins, and Nick Bosa.

Going from Leonard Floyd, who is far from a “small” human, to Mykel is night and day. Floyd weighed 240 pounds, compared to Williams’s 260. Williams is also two inches taller with an arm length that’s over an inch and a half longer than Floyd’s, who is known for having long, gangly arms.

I never watched Floyd beat Trent Williams 1-on-1. Mykel jarred Trent back in the first padded practice. That never happens. Saleh said Mykel is “gonna be a hell of a player” at the podium on Monday.

Floyd was never a player you thought of as the type to excel against the run, so it’s difficult to fully fault him for the 49ers expecting that to be anything different than what it was last season. As it turns out, teams had little trouble running toward the 240-pound edge rusher. Who could have guessed?

Those run defense woes weren’t limited to Floyd. Even if you take away the final game of the 2024 season, which meant nothing, this was a defense that finished 26th in rushing success rate and 28th in rushing EPA allowed. Only four teams allowed a higher EPA per rush last season than the 49ers, who allowed 1.5 yards to the running back before contact was made.

When the opposing running backs can get beyond the line of scrimmage before a finger is laid on them, that tells you there aren’t enough bullies up front to make a difference, and the players you’re using are likely too small to make a difference.

Maliek Collins (6’2”/308 pounds) and Javon Hargrave (6’2”/305 pounds) are not bad players. That’s not fair to paint that kind of picture or act like they didn’t have value. The 49ers expected two nickel-type defensive tackles to make a difference on every down, and that was never a feasible, realistic, or sustainable option.

Pivoting to West, Collins, and Elliott should make a world of difference. Collins is the size of Sasquatch, give or take an inch or two. He’s a mountain of a man who I’m sure Fred Warner, Dee Winters, and the rest of the linebacking core are already reaping the benefits of.

All in all, the 2025 projected starters are two inches taller, 11 pounds heavier, with a 1.5-inch reach advantage over the starters from last season.

For the previous two seasons, teams could locate where No. 97 was and run away from him. That won’t be the case in 2025. Running at Mykel Williams, even as a rookie, isn’t a recipe for success. The days of a free four yards up the middle against this defense should also be a thing of the past.

The size of the defensive line will show up in multiple ways throughout this season and beyond. It’s impossible to ignore in the early days of training camp. It shouldn’t take long for the 49ers’ defense to see rewards at every level.