Clelin Ferrell has been in the league long enough to know how quickly a career can tilt — one roster cut, one practice-squad call, one injury wave that opens a door.
On Sunday, Ferrell didn’t just walk through that door. He kicked it off the hinges.
The former Clemson top-five pick delivered one of the most dominant games of his NFL career in San Francisco’s 26–9 win over the Cleveland Browns, piling up a career-high nine tackles and two sacks, a stat line that felt less like a surprise and more like a reminder.
A Career Day, and a New Pace
Ferrell’s eruption wasn’t just a one-week flash — it’s the loudest moment yet in a surgically efficient run.
In four games played for the 49ers this season, he’s already totaled 14 tackles and four sacks, putting him on pace to shatter his previous single-season sack best of 4.5.
That production, in limited action, has turned his second stint with the 49ers into something more than a reunion. It’s become a late-season ally for a defense that needs veteran edge snaps it can trust.
And it’s become the cleanest argument Ferrell can make: he still affects games.
From Power Rangers to No. 4 Overall
Ferrell’s name will always pull Clemson fans back to peak-era Saturdays — the kind of defensive fronts that made opponents look like they were running uphill.
At Clemson (2015–18), Ferrell was everything you want in a championship edge: relentless, heavy-handed, and technically sharp enough to win inside or out. He was a two-time First Team All-ACC and two-time First Team All-American, and he won the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s top defensive end.
He also anchored the “Power Rangers” front with Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence and Austin Bryant, a unit that punished pockets and turned third-and-long into a weekly premium.
By the time he left Tigertown, Ferrell’s résumé was loaded: two national titles, 165 tackles, 50 tackles for loss, 27 sacks, and five forced fumbles.
The Raiders made him the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, betting he’d become the next cornerstone.
The NFL Detour — and the San Francisco Reset
Ferrell’s pro story hasn’t followed the straight line most top-five picks are sold.
He flashed early as a rookie — starting every game and posting 38 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks — but never settled into permanent cornerstone status in Las Vegas. The Raiders declined his fifth-year option, and his career turned into a sequence of short stays and fresh chances: a first stint with San Francisco, time in Washington, then another spin of roster roulette in 2025.
He was re-signed by the Commanders, released at final cuts in late August, picked up by the Chargers, cut again mid-October — and then, finally, the phone rang with a familiar area code.
The 49ers brought him back, first to the practice squad, then to the active roster, and now he’s giving them a return on a low-risk bet that’s starting to look like a steal.
Sunday’s performance was the peak — the kind that makes coaches trust you on 3rd-and-7, not just as injury insurance.
What It Means Going Forward
San Francisco heads into a bye before returning Dec. 14 at home against Tennessee. For Ferrell, that’s time to recover, reset, and keep stacking tape that changes how he’s viewed.
Because the league always needs edge rushers. It just needs them at the right time.
Right now, Ferrell is hitting that timing perfectly — the veteran showing up late, playing fast, and producing like someone who remembers exactly what it felt like to be the No. 4 pick.
And in the NFL, the best way to rewrite your story is simple: make the next quarterback pay.