Two Undrafted 49ers D-Linemen Are Forcing Their Way Into the Roster Conversation
San Francisco’s defensive tackle room wasn’t supposed to have an opening this deep into training camp. Then the injuries started stacking up, and two players nobody drafted started stepping into the gaps.
Bryson Eason and James Thompson signed with the 49ers as undrafted free agents in April, and defensive line coach Kris Kocurek still sounds a little surprised both of them were sitting there to sign. “It rarely happens where two guys that you think are going to get drafted, somewhere between the fourth and seventh round, and then for both of them to fall out and to be able to get both of them,” Kocurek said, according to NBC Sports Bay Area. “We saw them as dudes that could compete for 53-man roster spots.”
That’s not just a coach being kind to two rookies fighting for their careers. San Francisco backed it up with money. Thompson’s contract carried $277,500 in guarantees, the 10th-highest guarantee for any undrafted rookie in the league this year, per NBC Sports Bay Area. Eason’s deal guaranteed him $272,500. Teams don’t hand out numbers like that to camp bodies.
Why the timing matters for San Francisco’s front
The push from Eason and Thompson is landing at a useful moment. Nick Bosa spent all of last season rehabbing a torn ACL and is back on the field working toward Week 1, and Sam Okuayinonu briefly left an early-August practice with an ankle issue before returning the very next day, per ESPN’s camp tracker. Neither situation is a crisis, but a defensive line that’s already cycling reps around a returning Bosa has real incentive to find out fast whether either UDFA can play meaningful snaps in September.
The offensive skill group has had it worse. Ricky Pearsall is done for the year after general manager John Lynch confirmed he’ll have season-ending surgery on a lingering PCL injury, a decision that also brought Deebo Samuel back to the roster on a one-year deal, according to ESPN. It’s the kind of camp San Francisco has become familiar with — production has to come from wherever it’s available, including two names that weren’t on anyone’s draft board in April.
The scouting case Kocurek is making
Eason spent six seasons at Tennessee, starting the final two and a half, and finished with 105 tackles, 4.5 sacks and five passes defended in 61 games. Thompson put in five years at Wisconsin before transferring to Illinois for his final season, logging 100 tackles, 2.0 sacks and one pass breakup across 54 games. Kocurek doesn’t think either stat line reflects why they went unpicked.
“With Bryson, just the size you saw on tape, I would assume that he would have gotten drafted. The same with James Thompson. The film was just too good,” Kocurek said.
Eason measured in at 6-foot-2, 323 pounds at the combine and ran a 5.09-second 40 — quick enough for his frame that evaluators flagged his technique, not his tools, as the reason he lasted through seven rounds. Thompson, at 6-foot-6 and 308 pounds, brings length that’s harder to find on the interior. Neither profile screams “camp cut.”
What’s next
San Francisco’s defensive tackle room is deep — Kocurek himself has acknowledged as much — which means Eason and Thompson aren’t just auditioning for the coaching staff, they’re auditioning against a roster crunch. The 49ers set their initial 53-man roster at the end of August, and how these two hold up in joint practices and preseason snaps over the next few weeks will likely decide whether their guaranteed money bought them a spot on the field in September or a practice-squad audition instead.
