49ers roster: Drake Jackson in a perfect context his rookie year

Projecting Drake Jackson’s role, impact for 49ers in 2022

The 49ers aren’t likely looking at Drake Jackson as an immediate-impact player anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean they’ll gloss over the investment. No, they want him to be that perfect complementary piece to Nick Bosa.

Take into account what the Niners wanted but never truly got out of Dee Ford dating back to 2019, as Ford appeared in only 18 regular-season games with San Francisco between that year and 2021. And with the 49ers poised to move on from Ford between now and the regular season, Jackson could easily step into that role as a situational pass-rusher with speed to make Ford-like plays.

At some point. Perhaps just not right away.

Read More: 3 reasons why Drake Jackson breaks out right away

In the meantime, the Niners do have other more experienced options who can serve as every-down players, names like Samson Ebukam, Kemoko Turay and Charles Omenihu. While none of these three necessarily carry the hype and potential Jackson has entering his own rookie season, the three veterans are surely much safer bets and will likely see much more of the field in comparison to the former USC standout.

Jackson’s field time might be limited early, which is fine. However, as long as he begins to progress, it wouldn’t be a shocker to see him featured more and more as 2022 draws along, perhaps even getting four or five sacks as a rookie and showing some signs of being that quality No. 2 option to pair with Bosa.

Anything more would be an absolute gem of a result.