The San Francisco 49ers selected Western Kentucky cornerback Upton Stout with the 36th pick (No. 100 overall) in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The 49ers reportedly hosted Stout on a top-30 visit leading to the draft.
NFL Scouting Combine:
At the NFL Scouting Combine, Stout posted a 40-yard dash time of 4.44 seconds, a vertical jump of 37.5 inches, a broad jump of 10 feet, 8 inches, 21 reps on the bench press, and a 20-yard shuttle time of 4.29 seconds.
Measurements:
Stout is 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds. Additionally, he boasts an arm length of 30 inches and hands measuring 9 inches.
Hometown:
Houston, TX
College Statistics:
Stout registered 52 tackles (eight for a loss), a sack, a pass defensed, and an interception through 12 games as a senior in 2024, per Sports Reference. Over his five collegiate seasons, he recorded 166 tackles (12 for a loss), 1.5 sacks, 15 passes defensed, six interceptions, three touchdowns, and a forced fumble, transferring from North Texas to Western Kentucky in 2022.
| Statistical Rundown | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Solo | Ast | Comb | TFL | Sk | Int | |||||||
| 2020 | North Texas | CUSA | FR | DB | 8 | 24 | 11 | 35 | 1 | 0 | -- | |||||||
| 2021 | North Texas | CUSA | SO | DB | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | -- | 0 | -- | |||||||
| 2022 | Western Kentucky | CUSA | FR | DB | 14 | 29 | 15 | 44 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |||||||
| 2023 | Western Kentucky | CUSA | SO | DB | 7 | 19 | 10 | 29 | 2 | 0.5 | 1 | |||||||
| 2024 | Western Kentucky | CUSA | SR | DB | 12 | 29 | 23 | 52 | 8 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Total | 45 | 105 | 61 | 166 | 12 | 1.5 | 6 | |||||||||||
Lance Zierlein's NFL.com scouting report:
An undersized cornerback who spent much of his time playing wide corner, Stout has the twitch and athleticism to project inside. What he lacks in length he makes up for with his competitiveness. He's a natural pattern reader with the hips and feet to match breaks without giving up much separation. There are times he fails to trust his cover talent, holding and grabbing without cause. He's fairly instinctive and has the short-area burst to squeeze throwing windows. Stout's physical profile could hurt his draft standing, but the determination and athleticism will be hard to ignore.
NFL.com Draft Bio:
- 2020 (North Texas): Played in 8 games with 3 starts (35 tackles, 3 PBUs; 1-10-10.0 PR).
- 2021 (North Texas): Redshirted. Played in 4 games as a reserve (6 tackles, PBU; 2-44-22.0 KR). Entered the transfer portal in November.
- 2022: Honorable Mention All-Conference USA. Tied for the team lead with 4 INTs (1 returned for a TD). Played in all 14 games with 11 starts (44 tackles, 2 PBUs; 5-29-5.8 PR).
- 2023: Played in 7 games with 6 starts (29 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, INT returned for a TD, 8 PBUs, FF). Missed 5 games due to injury.
- 2024: First-team All-Conference USA. Started 12 games (52 tackles, 7.5 TFLs with 1 sack, INT, PBU). Did not play in the team's Boca Raton Bowl loss to James Madison.
Pre-Draft Grade:
Stout earned a pre-draft grade of 5.89 from NFL.com, which equates to an "average backup or special-teams player," per the site's 8-point grading scale.
Projection:
NFL.com projected Stout to be a sixth- or seventh-round draft pick.
NFL Draft Buzz Summary:
Stout will fit in as a developmental nickel corner whose immediate impact may come primarily on special teams while he adjusts to the size and speed of NFL receivers. His intelligence and competitive nature give him a chance to develop into a contributing role player, but his physical limitations create a relatively clear ceiling on his potential.
Teams will need to weigh his impressive production against the level of competition he faced and determine if his instincts can truly compensate for his lack of ideal measurables. While his versatility between slot and outside positions is intriguing, his size likely restricts him to primarily nickel duties at the next level with occasional outside reps in zone-heavy schemes.
His most likely path to NFL success involves landing with a defense that heavily employs zone coverage and can utilize his quick processing and tackling ability while minimizing his exposure in man coverage against bigger receivers. Special teams value will be crucial to securing and maintaining a roster spot while developing his defensive role.