Indiana’s CJ West and Kurtis Rourke Selected by San Francisco in 2025 NFL Draft

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Staff report

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — April 27, 2025

Two Indiana University football standouts are headed to the NFL after being selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2025 NFL Draft on Saturday.

Defensive tackle CJ West was chosen with the 113th overall pick in the fourth round on Saturday, becoming the highest-drafted Hoosier since tight end Ian Thomas was selected in 2018. Later in the day, quarterback Kurtis Rourke was taken in the seventh round, marking the first time since 2018 that multiple IU players were picked in the same draft.

West, a Chicago native, spent one season with Indiana after transferring from Kent State. He recorded 40 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks in 2024, earning high grades from Pro Football Focus as one of the nation’s top defensive interior players. In his collegiate career, West amassed 150 tackles, 27.0 tackles for loss, and 9.0 sacks over 52 games.

His selection is the highest for an IU defensive player since Tracy Porter went in the second round in 2008. West also becomes the first IU defensive tackle drafted since Nolan Harrison in 1991.

Rourke, originally from Canada, becomes just the second Canadian-raised quarterback to be drafted into the NFL, joining Jesse Palmer. Rourke helped lead Indiana to a program-best 11 wins and a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024. He set a school single-season record with 29 touchdown passes and threw for 3,042 yards, just the fifth 3,000-yard season in IU history. His completion percentage of 69.4% was a school record and ranked eighth nationally.

Over his collegiate career at Ohio University and Indiana, Rourke threw for 10,693 yards and 79 touchdowns, while maintaining one of the nation’s lowest interception totals among active quarterbacks.

The selections of West and Rourke bring Indiana’s all-time total to 175 players drafted into the NFL, with 49 coming in the first four rounds.

Both players now look to make their mark with a San Francisco team that has been a perennial contender in recent years.

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