Ex-49ers coach reveals team almost took breakout rookie RB in 2025

Robert Saleh, who spent 2025 as the San Francisco 49ers‘ defensive coordinator before taking over as Tennessee Titans head coach this offseason, revealed this week just how close his old team came to landing one of the NFL’s breakout rookies from a year ago.

Speaking to reporters ahead of Tennessee’s matchup against the New York Giants, Saleh said the 49ers had targeted Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo in the fourth round of the 2025 draft, only for the New York Giants (who the Titans face in Week 3) to snap him up first.

“I know going into the draft, we were actually about to draft him in San Francisco,” Saleh said. “Kyle [Shanahan] loved him. And he ended up getting taken right before we were picking.”

The 49ers were a few picks away from landing Cam Skattebo 😳 pic.twitter.com/MqIL6ku0E0

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The Giants took Skattebo with the No. 105 overall pick, eight spots ahead of San Francisco’s next selection. He quickly became one of the class’s most productive backs, rushing for 410 yards and five touchdowns on 101 carries while adding 207 receiving yards through eight games before a dislocated ankle ended his rookie season early.

San Francisco used that fourth-round capital instead on C.J. West, a defensive tackle out of Indiana. West logged 21 tackles and a sack across 14 games as a rookie and is currently on injured reserve.

The 49ers didn’t walk away from the 2025 draft empty-handed at running back, though — they took Oregon’s Jordan James in the fifth round as insurance behind Christian McCaffrey. James didn’t play much in 2025, though, after an injury-riddled rookie season. San Francisco also took receiver Jordan Watkins in the fifth round.

San Francisco doubled down on the position again this spring, using a third-round pick in the 2026 draft on Indiana’s Kaelon Black after a 1,000-yard, national-championship-winning season. Black has since overtaken James for the backup job behind McCaffrey, a role he’s holding through the start of the 2026 season.

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Ex-49ers coach reveals team almost took breakout rookie RB in 2025