49ers lineman Sam Okuayinonu (91) celebrates after sacking Seahawks QB Sam Darnold during a game between Seattle and San Francisco at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026.
49ers lineman Sam Okuayinonu (91) celebrates after sacking Seahawks QB Sam Darnold during a game between Seattle and San Francisco at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026.
The San Francisco 49ers’ defensive line was already a question mark entering the 2026 season, but the position group’s outlook got even murkier after defensive end Sam Okuayinonu suffered a broken right foot last week and landed on injured reserve.
Okuayinonu began his career with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent, and was entering his third full season with the 49ers. The 28-year-old Maryland grad started 12 games last season — and played in 16 — as he became a critical contributor on the defensive line after Nick Bosa tore his ACL in September. In 2024, Okuayinonu played in 16 games and started three. He collected three sacks each of the last two seasons.
Though a bit undersized for a defensive end at 6-foot-1, 269 pounds, Okuayinonu’s availability over the last two seasons suggested his body could hold up in the trenches through the grind of an NFL season.
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The nature of his injury was fairly fluky, according to coach Kyle Shanahan. Okuayinonu had had a plate inserted in his foot from an unrelated injury, and he “just stepped on it and it broke” during San Francisco’s final bonus practice ahead of its flight to Australia last Wednesday.
No matter how the injury occurred, it’s still a significant loss for the 49ers, as they lost depth at an already thin position.
“He’s gonna have to get surgery. It was a bad injury,” Shanahan said Monday. “Hopefully, we can get him back later in the year, but it was a real tough loss. Hurt for Sam O, hurt for our team, but hopefully we can take care of business and he can come back later in the year."
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Proven depth along the 49ers’ defensive line is essentially nonexistent. Outside of Bosa and newly-acquired defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, the 49ers’ seven other defensive linemen have combined for 10.5 career sacks. If you double that number, it’s still less than the sack total of new Los Angeles Rams defensive end Myles Garrett last season when he was with the Browns (23.5).
Bosa will be relied on as much as he can be, but he is still working his way back from his own major injury. The 49ers’ 2025 first-round pick, Mykel Williams, is on the active/physically unable to perform list and will miss at least the first four games of the season. Williams played in just nine games as a rookie and recorded just a sack before tearing his ACL.
Rookie third-round pick Romello Height also has had to deal with an injury late in training camp. He practiced Monday and Tuesday after missing 10 days, according to defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, and told the Chronicle last week that he expects to play in Week 1.
Defensive end Keion White, whom the 49ers acquired from the New England Patriots at last year’s trade deadline, is the projected starter opposite of Bosa. He played nine games for San Francisco last season and started two, netting 1.5 sacks.
The rest of the 49ers’ defensive line is comprised of a fourth-round rookie, an undrafted rookie, two second-year defensive tackles with one combined NFL start, and a recently-signed Okuayinonu replacement who was just on another team’s practice squad (and flew to Australia on a commercial flight last Thursday, he told The Athletic).
If you’re Morris, that’s probably a scary list to read through. Okuayinonu would have offered some much-needed insurance while Bosa continues to work his way back into game shape, and while Williams remains on PUP. And there’s no guarantee either of those players makes it through the 17-game season with their injury histories.
Now, the pressure for Height — who has never taken an NFL snap — to perform right away increases. As does the pressure for Khalid Kareem, the former Atlanta Falcons practice squad player whom the 49ers signed to fill Okuayinonu’s void.
Morris said Tuesday that the 49ers want to “ease (Height) into this thing, get him ready to go,” adding that as a rookie, “you prepare for those guys to be able to be in the lineup, be out of the lineup.”
They may no longer have that luxury.
Sep 8, 2026
Who they are
Harrison Rich is the San Francisco Chronicle football trending reporter. Previously, he was a sports intern at the Chronicle. He recently graduated from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, where he was a sports editor at the Diamondback, the student newspaper, and a men’s basketball beat writer. He’s written for the Washington Post’s high school sports desk, Sports Business Journal and 247Sports, among other outlets. Rich is a native of Long Island, New York, and is excited to spend some time on the West Coast.
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