The San Francisco 49ers bolstered their defensive line last season with the midseason acquisition of defensive end Charles Omenihu from the Houston Texans, setting themselves up for a late-season push, which ultimately placed them in the playoffs, where they reached the NFC Championship Game before losing to the Los Angeles Rams.
Reminiscing on the trade last season with Brad Graham of TheSFNiners, Omenihu said the trade was shocking, but that everything happens for a reason and that he's excited about where he currently is.
"[The trade] was shocking a little bit, but everything happens for a reason…I'm happy that I'm a 49er and we're rolling now. Ain't no hiccups now."
Interestingly enough, Omenihu faced his former team last season when the 49ers defeated the Texans 23-7 during Trey Lance's second career start in Week 16. About the matchup, Omenihu had just one word to say: lovely.
"Lovely. It'll be even better, even though it's preseason, it'll be even sweeter this year."
The 49ers face the Texans on August 25th, their third and final preseason game in 2022.
Speaking about the adjustment of changing teams halfway through the season, Omenihu admitted that it was more than expected, and that he's finally comfortable in the current system.
"Coming into halfway through the season, it's an adjustment," Omenihu said. "I didn't think it was going to be that crazy of an adjustment. but when you kind of look at an overview of the year, that was an adjustment for sure. Different scheme, city, teammates, it's a little different, but now that everything for me has calmed down, I'm settled. I know what I'm getting into. More comfortable in the new stance I have, new system, it's been a lot easier for me."
However, that wasn't always the case as the former Texan acknowledged that it took until this offseason for him to get fully acclimated with the 49ers.
"I think, for me, I really felt [fully] comfortable during minicamp and OTAs this year. But, if [talking about] a game I felt like I was kind of rolling a little bit, it would probably be the Cowboys game. Obviously, that was the game I played the most and had the most production, but I didn't really [feel] as comfortable till really I got into OTAs and minicamp this year."
Omenihu's snap count decreased from the first half of the season after he joined the 49ers. However, during the wildcard round of the playoffs, the 24-year-old edge-rusher saw 47% of the defensive snaps, which translated into a game-high six pressures against one of the best left tackles in the NFL in Tyron Smith.
Entering a contract year, Omenihu could be poised for a breakout year after the 49ers lost both D.J. Jones and Arden Key to free agency, leaving some openings on the defensive line ahead of the 2022 NFL season.