The San Francisco 49ers didn't have a first-round draft pick in 2022 after trading it away, along with the 2023 first-rounder, in the quarterback Trey Lance deal. That move, of course, ultimately didn't work out for the Niners, and Lance is currently the backup with head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers.
The deal made the Niners' second-round pick, No. 61 overall, the team's first of that season, with the front office looking to add pass rush opposite Nick Bosa after a 10-7 campaign that ended with an NFC Championship game loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
With that selection, the 49ers took USC edge rusher Drake Jackson, a talented-but-raw pass-rusher who had just turned age 21 a few weeks before the late-April draft. Jackson was a three-year starter at USC, racking up 12.5 sacks in 28 games for the Trojans.
Jackson had an uneventful rookie season during the Niners' 13-4 season, registering just three sacks as a part-time pass-rusher, playing just 33 percent of the defensive snaps that season in 15 games. He did not play during the 49ers' playoff run, relegated to weekly inactive lists.
He opened the 2023 season on a high, with three sacks in a beatdown of the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, but a torn patellar tendon limited him to just eight games that year. He was ultimately waived by the Niners last offseason due to a failed physical from that injury.
That seemed like the unfortunately end to the now-24 year old's NFL career, as his inability to be available would make it difficult for any team to bring him into the fold outside of maybe a practice squad slot.
Enter former 49ers assistant general manager and current Washington Commanders GM Adam Peters.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Jackson was signing with the Commanders, reuniting him with Peters and giving him a chance to resurrect an NFL career that never truly got started. But just two days later, Washington indicated that Jackson's debut with the team would have to wait; he was being placed on injured reserve before even stepping on the field.
With that in mind, the move is certainly a strange one, even if Washington simply added another player (wide receiver Noah Brown) to IR to make room for Jackson. But it also suggests who in the 49ers' draft room was likely pounding the table for the pass-rusher in the first place: Peters.
Sure, in the end, maybe the entire front office decided together. But Peters liked the player enough to bring him to Washington after Jackson proved nothing in San Francisco, even though the player wasn't healthy enough to contribute right away.
All this stings even more if you look at the draft board from 2022 and glance up to just a few picks after the Niners took Jackson. The Denver Broncos took pass-rusher Nik Bonitto out of Oklahoma, who has been an absolute force for Denver, racking up 31 career sacks (and counting), even after an unspectacular rookie year.
The draft is a bit of a crapsshoot, that's for sure. But there's little to suggest the 49ers didn't get this particular pick completely wrong, and they likely have Peters to thank for that.