49ers Rookie Expectations: Gracen Halton

With the San Francisco 49ers completing free agency and the NFL draft it is a good time to look ahead to what will be happening in the 2026 season. While Gracen Halton is just a rookie, what are some realistic expectations for what he can do during his first year?

What to expect from San Francisco 49ers rookie defensive tackle Gracen Halton

Halton fell in the draft because he is a bit undersized for the position. So, to get realistic expectations, this sample will include all defensive tackles drafted since 2010 who weighed under 300 pounds and were drafted between picks 80 and 130. These are the earlier mid-round players who fell due to their size.

The sample included 24 players. They averaged 16.5 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack during their rookie season. The sample has a lot of misses though, and if you wanted to see what a season looked from successful players in this range, you have to cut it to 13 players. The list contains Geno Atkins and Kobe Turner who were legitimate high-end starters. However, the rest of the list is Justin Jones, Sheldon Day, Henry Anderson, Justin Ebogibe, Henry Melton, Perrion Winfrey, Brandon Dorlus, Ade Adebawore, Colby Wooden, William Gholston and James Lynch. All of them have solid careers, but mostly as depth or lower end starter roles in rotations. Still, these would be solid outcomes for Halton.

San Francisco 49ers — Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Those players averaged 17.5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks per year. So, a slight uptick in tackles and sacks when you remove the busts.

Last year, Alfred Collins had 17 tackles, one tackle for loss, and one sack, while CJ West had 21 tackles, two for loss, and a sack. Those two are bigger and play roles with less production, but they should see the field at similar snap rates to Halton, who will be a depth piece. Jordan Elliott had 31 tackles, although he only had one tackle for loss and no sacks. Meanwhile, Kalia Davis had 28 tackles, four for loss, and 0.5 sacks.

So, as long as Halton stays healthy and remains one of the top four along the interior rotation, he should be able to hit the average marks the similar interior lineman did as rookies. If he does not, they are going to need bigger years than expected from the rest of the players.

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