Under-the-radar 49ers rookie standing out after return from injury

The San Francisco 49ers may have found another mid-round gem in the NFL draft.

Rookie fourth-round pick Gracen Halton, a defensive tackle out of Oklahoma University, was banged up early in training camp before the team even put pads on. He was diagnosed with a bone bruise on his knee and missed enough time that it was worth wondering if he'd ever be able to find his sea legs in the NFL as a rookie. Setbacks, particularly ones that happen early in camp, can quickly derail players in their first year.

That wasn't the case for Halton.

Halton was back on the field during the team's third week of training camp practices, and it didn't take him long to make an impact. ESPN's Nick Wagoner and the Sacramento Bee's Chris Biderman both highlighted Halton's performance in Thursday's practice.

Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris confirmed that Halton has already had flashes on the practice field.

“He did, man," Morris said after Thursday's practice. "I see a young man that's really feisty. Obviously, was off the field for a couple days and coming back really into it. Kind of fired up, sometimes a little too fired up. You get those kind of guys. Sometimes you got to tell them to kind of slow down a little bit to get with the tempo. The guy's been going at a really high rate. Really going fast, really getting after it. He got out there today and really wanted to be a part of it the last couple of days, so it's been fun to watch him get back.”

Halton spent all four his college seasons with the Sooners and posted 8.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss in 47 career games. The lack of elite production probably contributed to Halton's slide to Day 3 of the draft, but Morris said Halton is showing the 49ers a little more than just the traits that made him San Francisco's selection with the No. 107 overall pick in this year's draft.

“Gracen, when he played in college, we noticed the initial quickness, the movement," Morris said. "You notice his get-off. You notice a lot of things that we covet. He was able to do those things. A lot of the things that we’re going to ask him to do is the things that we saw on tape, the things that we require. He brought some other things to us that I've seen, like some real sudden power, a couple of things he's seen in the run game today, things of those natures. He'll always be asked to do the things he does great. Then the things that are required based on situational football, he can do for us. That's a lot of fun to watch when you see a young player have that kind of ability.”

The 49ers have badly needed to find some productive players in the draft, particularly along the defensive front. They've invested heavily there in the last two drafts, and the very early returns on Halton provide some optimism that San Francisco might have walked out of the 2026 draft with a steal in Round 4.

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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Under-the-radar 49ers rookie standing out after return from injury

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