49ers can stay excited about Drake Jackson despite late dropoff

Then-rookie EDGE Drake Jackson disappeared late in the season, but the 49ers have every reason to believe he can play a vital role in 2023.

The San Francisco 49ers’ top pick from the 2022 NFL Draft, former USC EDGE Drake Jackson, makes for a challenging review when it comes to analyzing his rookie season.

On one hand, the Round 2 selection managed to earn something of a reputation for swatting down passes near the line of scrimmage, recording eight such instances over the course of the regular season.

And, for a while, his three sacks were on pace to be in the top five of all rookie pass-rushers last year, too.

Except Jackson pulled something of a disappearing act late in the season, and the Niners ultimately got in the habit of making him a weekly inactive player, a trend that continued into the playoffs, too.

Why?

During one of his final press conferences of the season, head coach Kyle Shanahan offered up an explanation:

"I think Drake showed a lot this year on what he can be, but he needs to get to what he can be. I thought he was closer to that earlier in the year. It was a long season and I think he learned as a year goes, if you lose any power in this league, it gets a lot harder. And we had a decent group of rushers and I think as the year went out and towards the end, it got too long for him, and his body wasn’t quite ready for what we needed."

Read More: Grades for every 49ers rookie from 2022 NFL Draft class

Shanahan didn’t mince words. It’s pretty clear Jackson’s strength and conditioning weren’t adequate enough, and those factors ultimately worked against him actually contributing down the stretch.

As Shanahan also pointed out, both at the end of the 2022 season and in other pressers, there can be a “rookie wall” that first-year players can hit with regard to the longer season and added work.

Sounds like Jackson hit that.

Why Drake Jackson bounces back for 49ers in 2023

The first portion of Jackson’s year was promising enough. Sure, three sacks and six quarterback hits over 15 games played won’t move the radar much.

It sounds as if Jackson’s sole offseason objective will be a simple one: get into the weight room and work on some conditioning. That way, the rigors of a full 17-game schedule won’t tax him as they did in the latter half of 2022.

The context surrounding Jackson in 2023 will be important as well, as EDGEs Samson Ebukam, Charles Omenihu and Jordan Willis are all hitting NFL free agency. Sure, San Francisco might look to re-sign one, perhaps two of those names.

Ideally, though, Jackson would be the prime candidate to take over a No. 2 pass-rushing role opposite the All-Pro, Nick Bosa. That’s why the 49ers invested their top pick from last year’s draft in Jackson.

If Jackson responds, both in terms of his physical ability and production, that selection should pay off nicely.