The San Francisco 49ers met with Notre Dame defensive end Khalid Kareem at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Friday night, according to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Kareem, a senior, did not participate in drills at the Combine after undergoing shoulder surgery last month. He recorded 88 tackles, 20.5 for a loss, 10 sacks, six passes defensed, and four forced fumbles during his final two seasons with the Fighting Irish.
Kareem's injury took place in Notre Dame's ninth game of the season, but the defender played through the injury, thinking it was a sprained AC joint. An MRI three weeks later revealed the severity of the injury.
"Kareem said he believes his best fit in the NFL is playing the wide-nine," wrote Maiocco, "lining up outside the offensive tackle. The 49ers deployed the wide-nine alignment last season under defensive line coach Kris Kocurek."
Below is the NFL.com draft profile bio on Kareem:
"Kareem was a top-100 prospect coming out of Michigan's Harrison High School, with the Detroit Defensive Player of the Year (16 sacks as a senior) choosing the Irish over Michigan and Alabama. He enrolled in January 2016 and received playing time in four contests as a true freshman. Kareem played in all 13 games as a reserve in 2017 (21 tackles, 5.5 for loss, three sacks) and then started all 13 games as a junior (42 tackles, 10.5 for loss, 4.5 sacks, five pass breakups). He tied for the team lead with 5.5 sacks among his 46 total stops (10 for loss) as a senior. Kareem also led the Irish with three forced fumbles in his final season. His father, Ken, coached defensive linemen at the high school level for many years."
Lance Zierlein of NFL.com, who compares Kareem to Kerry Wynn, wrote the following about Kareem within his scouting report:
"Power-based edge defender who uses technique and force to make up for a lack of explosiveness. He does an adequate job of bracing up and defending his turf when the run comes his way, but he lacks the athletic gifts to make many plays outside of his area. He's able to muscle up and create some pocket pressure against college tackles, but that approach is unlikely to yield results against most NFL starters. Kareem has size and toughness but may not have enough athletic ability to ever be more than a backup 4-3 base end."
Kyle Crabbs of The Draft Network wrote the following about Kareem within his scouting report:
"Player Summary - Khalid Kareem projects as an early down defensive end in an even front at the NFL level, though he does possess the ceiling to develop as a more potent pass rush threat with some minor adjustments and if he's given a potent rusher opposite him on defense. Kareem has pretty good burst and twitch to fire up the field and if he becomes more cerebral with his rush counters and setup the odds are strong that he's going to be able to become a solid starter at the NFL level. Developmental starter. "
Measurables
Height: 6-4
Weight: 268 lbs.
Arm length: 34 3/8 inches
Hand length: 10 7/8 inches
| College Statistics | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Class | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | |||||||||
| 2017 | Notre Dame | SO | 11 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 5.5 | 3.0 | |||||||||
| 2018 | Notre Dame | JR | 13 | 23 | 19 | 42 | 10.5 | 4.5 | |||||||||
| 2019 | Notre Dame | SR | 13 | 23 | 23 | 46 | 10.0 | 5.5 | |||||||||
| Total | Notre Dame | 56 | 52 | 108 | 26.0 | 13.0 | |||||||||||
