Upton
Stout.
Upton
Stout.
Western Kentucky· 5'9"· 181 lb· 4.44s 40
"An undersized, feisty nickel who overcomes physical limitations with competitive toughness, high-end production, and a nuanced understanding of leverage that makes him a disruptive force in the slot."Pre-draft read
Stout is a nickel first and everything else second: a 5-foot-9, 181-pound slot defender who aligns over the No. 2, reads the quarterback's front shoulder from an inside-leverage stance, and triggers downhill the instant the ball leaves. He is at his best in off-man against crossers and slants, staying square and closing ground with plus short-area burst rather than long speed.
The second trait is the blitz. Western Kentucky sent him from depth and off the slot edge, and his timing and low pad level let him arrive clean. Against the run he fits with real force for his size and rips ball carriers down when he can wrap. The separator is temperament: he plays bigger than the frame, communicates constantly, and never concedes a rep.
Nickel-heavy defenses that keep a dedicated slot defender on the field and ask him to play off-man, match No. 2 routes, and blitz — the modern 49ers-style base nickel front.
Year 1: full-time nickel in sub packages with designed slot pressures and run-support responsibility. Ceiling: a top-tier starting nickel who adds takeaways to the volume tackling.
A defense that asks its nickel to travel outside against big X receivers or to walk down as a de facto box safety over tight ends — his frame gets exposed in both jobs.
Do not ask him to carry vertical routes without inside help; his hips and length make that the losing rep.
Upton Stout - Western Kentucky Best Highlights
Slot coverage reps, blitz timing and ball production at Western Kentucky.
(DB) Upton Stout Highlights | 2025 NFL Draft
Pre-draft reel showing nickel alignment versatility and downhill run support.
Upton Stout Highlights - Welcome to the San Francisco 49ers
Draft-day college compilation released after San Francisco took him at pick 100.
Stout is a slot-only projection who earned his grade with competitive toughness rather than measurables. Two years at North Texas, three at Western Kentucky, 45 career games, and a defensive system that moved him everywhere — 355 slot snaps, 71 wide, 99 in the box in 2024 alone — built a defender who understands leverage, split rules, and where his help lives.
The production backs the tape. Six career interceptions, two returned for scores, 15 pass breakups, 166 tackles with 10.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks. The 2024 season was the signature one: 52 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, first-team All-Conference USA, and a run of backfield plays that showed what a well-timed slot pressure looks like. The flags were honest ones. He missed five games in 2023, the frame invited mismatch questions against bigger slots and tight ends, and he grabbed when beaten vertically — 15 career penalties says so.
Boards had him as a Day 2 nickel with a Day 3 floor, and the Senior Bowl week firmed up the top of that range. San Francisco taking him at 100 was a fit call more than a value stretch: a defense that needs a full-time nickel to survive, betting that trigger, awareness, and nerve outrun a size chart.
- 01
Slot instincts
Reads the quarterback's front shoulder from inside leverage, sorts route combinations quickly, and drives on throws in front of him with plus short-area burst.
- 02
Blitz timing
Times his snap and stays low coming off the slot edge, arriving clean and affecting the quarterback's rhythm on well-designed pressures.
- 03
Ball production
Six career interceptions with two returned for touchdowns and 15 pass breakups; he attacks the catch point rather than playing for the tackle.
- 04
Run fits
Triggers downhill without hesitation and rips ball carriers down when he can wrap, playing with far more force than a 181-pound frame suggests.
- 05
Competitive temperament
Alpha personality who welcomes matchups, communicates constantly pre-snap, and held his own against top-end competition on the schedule.
- 01
Frame limits
At 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds he can be leaned on by bigger slots and tight ends, and disrupting at the top of routes against them is a real problem.
- 02
Vertical fluidity
Plays high in his transition and his hips can be stiff flipping to run, which shows on routes that press vertically from the slot.
- 03
Grabby when beaten
Reaches and holds once a receiver stacks him; 15 career penalties, 12 of them in three seasons at Western Kentucky, reflect that habit.
- 04
Durability history
Missed five games in 2023 and the availability question followed him through the process given how physically he plays for his size.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.44sp50
- Vertical
- 37.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 128inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- 4.29sp50
- Bench
- 21repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | North Texas | 8 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2021 | North Texas | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | Western Kentucky | 14 | 44 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 2023 | Western Kentucky | 7 | 24 | 0.5 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 2024 | Western Kentucky | 12 | 53 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | — | 45 | 162 | 1.5 | 6 | 15 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Sub-package slot defender whose value is run support, timed pressure, and reliability rather than coverage volume.
Undersized full-time nickel who blitzes, tackles, and eventually turns into a takeaway machine.
Size-limited slot who survives as a special teams contributor and emergency depth.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
San Francisco needed a starting nickel and got one immediately. Stout opened his rookie year in the slot rotation, was on the field for all 16 games he was available for, and started four of them, finishing with 82 total tackles (43 solo), 1.0 sack, one forced fumble, two stuffs, and five pass breakups. No interceptions came, but the tackle volume told the story of how much he was asked to play: he was on the field in base nickel personnel almost every week, and his snap counts climbed as the season went on — 30-plus tackles in November alone. He added seven tackles across two playoff games as the 49ers reached the divisional round.
In hindsight the pick reads exactly as the fit call it was. He is not a corner in the traditional sense and never will be; the size questions still surface against big slots and he has yet to turn proximity into takeaways. But a Day 2 defender who steps in as a functional 16-game nickel in year one is a hit at pick 100, and the run-support and blitz value showed up on tape the way the college film promised. The tackle-first profile now needs the ball production to follow.