49ers roster: 5 players whose stock is plummeting rapidly

No. 4: 49ers EDGE Samson Ebukam

It’s a good thing Nick Bosa and fellow edge rusher Dee Ford have gotten off to a solid start this season, reinvigorating a pass rush that went stagnant in 2020 when both suffered season-ending injuries early that year.

One of the ways the 49ers hoped to bolster that duo, though, was to bring aboard former Los Angeles Rams EDGE Samson Ebukam as a situational and depth pass-rusher, which was similar to the role he held during his four years in southern California.

To date, though, Ebukam has been quite the disappointment.

Having played 37 percent of the Niners’ defensive snaps through three weeks, Ebukam has failed to register a single quarterback hurry, let alone a sack, and he’s got just one quarterback pressure, too. His pressure win rate, according to Pro Football Focus, is a lowly 3.9 percent. Typically, pass-rushers need to be getting close to 10 percent to be truly effective.

Ebukam, who never had more than 4.5 sacks in a single season, has yet to establish himself as a quality rotational player who can spell both Bosa and Ford, which could prove to be problematic late in the season as those latter two wind up having to be on the field a lot more than anticipated.

Simply put, San Francisco needs a lot more out of Ebukam than it has gotten so far.