The 8th-most important player on the 49ers is Osa Odighizuwa, a former 3rd-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys. Odighizuwa is entering his sixth year in the league, and his first with the 49ers. He’s been a model of consistency: he’s only missed one game in his entire career, playing 84 out of 85 possible games. The multi-time Cowboys captain was traded to the 49ers in March, and although he may not earn the captain’s badge in San Francisco, he brings phenomenal leadership and an excellent mentality to the team.
Odighizuwa cracks the top ten because he is something that the 49ers haven’t had since Javon Hargrave: a true, three-down defensive tackle. He’s a PHENOMENAL interior disruptor, boasting the tenth-best True Pressure Rate among all defensive tackles, according to NFL analyst and trenches expert Brandon Thorn (Trench Warfare). His gap-shooting, explosive run defense fits the 49ers style. He is a consistent presence on a team that DESPERATELY needs one.
The 49ers defensive tackle room has more question marks at the end of training camp than it did at the beginning, but Odighizuwa is the stabilizing force. He will be relied on heavily, both as the second-best pass rusher on the team and one of the key members of the run defense. If he goes down, or if the Niners had never made this trade in the first place, they would have arguably the worst defensive tackle room in the league. It would be another glaring weakness on a defense with plenty of question marks. We saw in 2025 what happens when your defensive tackles can’t stop the run OR rush the passer. Osa Odighizuwa is single-handedly preventing that from happening again.
While I don’t think Odighizuwa is an elite player, never making a Pro Bowl or All-Pro team, he is easily one of the ten most important players on this team. The lack of answers at defensive tackle right now is alarming, and Osa masks so much of that concern. Defensive tackle investment around the league is rapidly rising: Jalen Carter just signed a deal worth $38-million per year. It’s becoming a premium position, and Odighizuwa is the 49ers’ biggest investment at that position. Additionally, he’s only 28 years old, entering the prime of his career. The Niners are infamously an old team.
Odighizuwa doesn’t single-handedly fix that problem, but at 28, you can reasonably expect a few more high-quality years out of him. With every player the 49ers add, I question: “Will this player be part of the next 49ers core?”. I think for Odighizuwa, the answer is yes. Either way, he’s a key member of the defense who will shoulder a large responsibility this season.