SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have built their defense out from the defensive line ever since coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch arrived eight years ago.
An underwhelming performance from that unit during a disappointing 2024 season has led to a near complete overhaul at the position with San Francisco now counting on three rookies and recently acquired edge rusher Bryce Huff to give enough support to holdover star Nick Bosa to get back to having a dominant front.
To make sure the additions fit seamlessly, the Niners are relying on defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, who welcomes the challenge with some “fresh blood in the room.”
“This year is probably one of the more significant turnovers with the youth that we’ve added to the mix and acquiring Bryce here in the last few days,” Kocurek said Tuesday. “There will be quite a few new faces in there that will have to make significant contributions. We knew it was a possibility there would be some turnover. It also can be challenging bringing in four to five new guys in a room. But I like it. They’re all coming in very eager, willing to learn and trying to get a little better each day, stacking one day on top of the next.”
The 49ers cut three Week 1 starters from last season, letting go of expensive veterans like Javon Hargrave, Leonard Floyd and Maliek Collins and replacing them with youth.
San Francisco used the 11th overall pick on versatile Georgia defensive end Mykel Williams before adding defensive tackles Alfred Collins in the second round and CJ West in the fourth.
Those additions were meant to shore up a run defense that regressed in recent years with the 4.45 yards per carry allowed last season more than 1 yard higher than the 3.4 average in 2022.
The trade for Huff that was officially completed when he passed a physical on Tuesday was aimed at giving the team a dynamic edge rusher across from Bosa.
The team had no other edge rusher who had a season with at least five sacks before trading a conditional fifth-round pick for Huff, who had 10 sacks and 67 pressures on 334 pass rush snaps in 2023 when he played on the New York Jets for Robert Saleh, who is back in San Francisco this season for a second stint as defensive coordinator.
Kocurek said Huff's speed off the edge and his quick get-off “jumps off the tape” and is confident he can return to that form after struggling last season in Philadelphia in a defense that had him playing more as a stand-up linebacker than a dedicated edge rusher.
Huff had only 2 1/2 sacks and 23 pressures in his one season in Philadelphia, missing five games with a wrist injury. He was then a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl.
“If you’re born into a hand-in-the-ground defense, it’s an adjustment period to turn yourself into a stand-up, outside linebacker role and vice versa,” Kocurek said. “There’s a learning curve and steps you have to take to master the techniques. It’s not just snap your fingers and go to a different scheme.”
Kocurek hopes the changes in personnel lead to a change in performance after the struggles up front last season contributed to a 6-11 record and the team's fewest sacks in a season since 2020 when Bosa missed nearly the entire year with a knee injury.
“If that doesn’t piss you off than you’ve got to get out of coaching,” Kocurek said. “The fire burns deeper in your stomach, the chip gets bigger on your shoulder and you want to do everything humanly possible to make sure it doesn’t happen again. No one should be happy about it.”
NOTES: The Niners made three other roster moves after adding Huff. They signed receiver Malik Knowles to a one-year deal, waived OL Nicholas Petit-Frere and placed WR Trent Taylor on IR.
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FILE - Philadelphia Eagles' Bryce Huff walks to the field during an NFL football NFC divisional playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles, Rams Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
FILE - Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Bryce Huff (0) rushes during an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr., File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
