The 49ers made USC EDGE Drake Jackson their top pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, but he won’t have to automatically deliver his rookie season.
In 2017, the San Francisco 49ers used their first pick of that year’s NFL Draft to grab former Stanford defensive end Solomon Thomas at No. 3 overall.
Two years later, the Niners made EDGE Nick Bosa the No. 2 overall selection in that particular draft.
Both of those players had one thing in common: They were expected to be high-impact players right out of the gate for head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. One succeeded, Bosa, while Thomas failed to live up to his draft stock and was off the roster after four so-so seasons.
San Francisco’s top pick from the 2022 NFL Draft, former USC EDGE Drake Jackson, does not fall into that category.
A big part of this is the fact the 49ers didn’t select Jackson until late in Round 2, No. 61 overall, meaning he won’t carry the pressure of being a first-round pick, let alone someone selected in the top five.
Additionally, as is the case with Bosa on the roster, the Niners already have a stacked and talented defensive line, meaning they can be patient with Jackson, a player many view as having tremendous potential but in need of some serious polish to be a high-impact talent at the NFL level.
As such, Jackson enters a great situation as a rookie, still carrying high-profile attention and interest but not having the need to deliver right out of the gate.
Let’s take some stock value of the rookie’s upcoming context in 2022.
Why Drake Jackson makes a quick impact for 49ers
If you were to solely look at Drake Jackson’s collegiate numbers, you might not be all that impressed.
A mere 12.5 sacks and 25 tackles for a loss over three years with the Trojans won’t exactly jump off the page, and those stats nearly replicate what Nick Bosa did last year alone, albeit in 17 regular-season games whereas Jackson never played more than 11 in any given season.
| Tack | Tack | Tack | Tack | Tack | Def | Def | Def | Def | Fumb | Fumb | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | Int | Yds | Avg | PD | FR | FF |
| *2019 | USC | Pac-12 | FR | DL | 11 | 26 | 20 | 46 | 11.5 | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 2020 | USC | Pac-12 | SO | LB | 6 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 5.5 | 2.0 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | USC | Pac-12 | JR | LB | 10 | 23 | 14 | 37 | 8.0 | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Career | USC | 57 | 46 | 103 | 25.0 | 12.5 | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference
Generated 6/21/2022.
There are a few things to note here, though. For starters, USC’s defense during Jackson’s tenure there wasn’t particularly great, and a revolving coaching staff often asked him to play a multitude of positions, all of which required him to change his weight.
The inconsistency surely bit into his production, but it’s not hard to see why the 6-foot-4 and 250-pound defender could easily cut his teeth as a situational pass-rusher early.
Kyle Shanahan certainly thinks so, as stated through Niners Nation:
"The first time we watched Drake, he was like the 10th defensive lineman we watched, because we watched them based on where they’re projected to go. And his tape was better than the nine we watched before him. It shows the potential of a guy. Yeah, there’s some things as to why we got him at 61. But when you see the things that he’s capable of doing, and I’m not trying to put pressure on him or anything, but you see the ability to be one of those top guys. And to have that advantage at 61, those are the things that change teams."
This is a classic case where a team like San Francisco is banking on what Jackson could potentially become, not where he is right now.
Additionally, knowing Jackson isn’t going to be tasked with a Bosa-like role in year one should serve to allow defensive line coach Kris Kocurek to put him solely in ideal positions where he can maximize his current skill set while also continuing to develop into something more.
That’s advantageous. But it doesn’t always work out that way.
Why Drake Jackson struggles early and often for 49ers
Even if Drake Jackson doesn’t come out of the gate hot for the 49ers his rookie year, the context for him is still beneficial as he won’t have to be “great” anytime soon.
That said, there are plenty of risks the Niners are taking with the promising but unpolished pass-rusher.
Going back to the variety of roles USC had him do during his college years, Jackson didn’t exactly have the opportunity to fine-tune his arsenal of pass-rushing moves, meaning he largely had to rely solely on speed rather than strength to get into the backfield.
On top of that, as his NFL.com draft profile pointed out, the frequent change in weight means he hasn’t quite learned to use his size and stature to his advantage just yet, and it’s not uncommon for him to get knocked off balance or out of pass-rushing lanes when they’re available.
Oh, and don’t count upon him being an every-down player anytime soon. Jackson still needs a lot of work on run defense.
We’ve seen plenty of promising EDGE prospects come and go over the years, such as Solomon Thomas and another former San Francisco player who seemingly had all the traits, Eli Harold, but never amassed to anything more than a role player after the 49ers grabbed him in Round 3 out of Virginia.
Yet the state of the Niners’ current defensive line should make life for Jackson much easier than it was for either Thomas or Jackson when they respectively broke into the league with San Francisco.
That’ll matter.
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.