Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports named five players primed for a breakout season amid a contract year. The Houston Texans made defensive end Charles Omenihu a fifth-round draft pick in 2019. On November 2, 2021, he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a 2023 sixth-round pick.
Omenihu is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is slated to earn $2.54 million during the upcoming season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2023.
After racking up seven sacks through his first two seasons, Omenihu didn't reach the quarterback in 2021 but accumulated 17 tackles, a tackle for a loss, four quarterback hits, and a pass defensed through 15 games with the Texans and 49ers. Omenihu did earn 1.5 sacks in 34 defensive snaps during San Francisco's playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys, though.
Last season, Omenihu had 16 pressures in limited playing time through six games with the Texans, per Pro Football Focus. That was enough to intrigue 49ers general manager John Lynch and influence his way onto Trapasso's list that includes Denver Broncos defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones, Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Jamison Crowder, and Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Greg Gaines.
"What's weird was that after being on the field for close to 40 snaps per game with the Texans, the 49ers' newly acquired, unique pass rusher never played more than 20 snaps in a single contest for the rest of the regular season," wrote Trapasso. "That changed in the first playoff win, when he erupted for six pressures on 27 pass-rush opportunities across 35 total snaps against the Cowboys. Sure, it was just one contest, a rather big one at that, but Omenihu made a statement to his new coaching staff -- he should've been playing more from the jump in his new locale.
"The former Texas star has gotten more comfortable and productive rushing the passer in each of his first three seasons in the NFL. And in what should be a more prominent role on the 49ers defensive line, I expect a noticeable breakout en route to a hefty extension in the 2023 offseason for the nearly 6-6 defender with 36-inch tentacles attached to his torso."
Those six pressures on the playoff stage were a single-game career-high for Omenihu. In addition, the defender's overall Pro Football Focus grade (66.6) and pass-rushing grade (82.3) last season were also career-highs.
"Charles has done a good job," 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans said this week. "I think OTAs (organized team activities) have been very beneficial for him. He came in mid-season (in 2021), so for him to get all the groundwork, day-one fundamentals of how we play D-line, this has been huge for him.
"I'm happy that he's able to get these OTAs under his belt. He's going to be much better for us just because he has a, really, base level of how we do things now."