Tag: drake jackson

Former USC Trojan Drake Jackson is done for 2024 NFL season with 49ers

Drake Jackson’s hopes of being able to play this season have been dashed. Make a full recovery, Drake.

Former USC Trojan Drake Jackson will miss the 2024 NFL season after he was placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list by the San Francisco 49ers, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.

The defensive end had patellar tendon surgery during the offseason in the hopes that he would be able to play by Week 1. The 49ers ruled Jackson out of training camp on July 29 due to the severity of the injury as well as the surgery.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan expressed doubts about Jackson’s participation in training camp.

“Anytime you do that type of surgery that he had … those are big surgeries,” Shanahan said. “They’re tough to come back from. You never know how they’re going to react. We always know it’s a possibility to take a long time, and it’s taking a long time.”

The San Francisco 49ers selected Jackson from USC with the No. 61 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft. Last season, Jackson recorded seven tackles, including two for a loss, three quarterback hits, three sacks, and a pass defensed before his season ended, per Pro Football Reference.

Jackson, who is 23, has had a solid career so far with 21 tackles, including five for a loss, nine quarterback hits, six sacks, nine passes defensed, and an interception in 23 game appearances over his two NFL seasons.

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Injured 49ers defensive end not expected to return to practice during training camp

The 23-year-old edge rusher isn’t expected to return to practice during training camp due to a knee injury.

During free agency, the San Francisco 49ers added veterans Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos to the defensive line rotation around star pass rusher Nick Bosa.

Adding to the 49ers defensive line depth is 2022 second-round pick Drake Jackson. After starting training camp on the physically unable to perform list, Jackson will miss the remainder of practice at training camp due to a knee injury. When giving updates on players with injuries after practice on Monday, Kyle Shanahan told reporters that there’s no exact timeline on Jackson’s injury.

Via @jenniferleechan on Twitter:

Jackson played seven games last season, recording three sacks and one pass deflection. All three of Jackson’s sacks came in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since being drafted out of USC in 2022, Jackson has notched six sacks, 12 tackles and one interception in 21 career games.

With Jackson out, Robert Beal and Alex Barrett could pick up more reps at training camp.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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Two former USC football stars will watch the NFC Championship Game instead of playing in it

Talanoa Hufanga and Drake Jackson will watch the NFC title game in street clothes instead of suiting up for the 49ers.

Athletes want to play on the biggest stages. Two USC football stars won’t get that chance when the San Francisco 49ers face the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday afternoon. When the Niners host Detroit at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, they won’t have two former Trojans in shoulder pads and a full uniform.

Talanoa Hufanga and Drake Jackson both suffered season-ending injuries a few months ago. A Niner defense which has struggled at times to defend the run, and which can use all the pass-rushing help it can get with opponents double-teaming Nick Bosa, won’t have the services of Talanoa Hufanga and Drake Jackson. The Niners have a lot less depth than they otherwise would have owned due to these injuries. If these two former Trojans had been active and healthy, San Francisco would have more options and more bodies to throw at the Lions, who have a strong running game and do not figure to be a pushover despite their relative lack of playoff experience.

Niners-Lions is Sunday at 3:30 p.m. local time in Santa Clara, 6:30 Eastern in Detroit and the rest of the Eastern time zone. The game is will be aired by Fox Sports.

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49ers roster moves: DE Drake Jackson placed on IR

The #49ers placed DE Drake Jackson on IR and made some other roster moves:

The 49ers on Saturday announced a handful of roster moves ahead of their Week 10 matchup against the Jaguars.

Not among the handful of changes was the activation of any players off of injured lists. Cornerbacks Darrell Luter and Samuel Womack, and defensive end Robert Beal all had their 21-day practice windows opened to start the week, but none of them were activated for Sunday.

Here are the roster moves San Francisco did make:

49ers 2022 NFL draft class mostly struggling halfway through 2nd season

An update on the #49ers’ 2022 draft class, which isn’t trending the right direction 1.5 seasons in:

The 49ers are in a good place from a roster perspective and they don’t necessarily need young players to contribute right away. However, if they’re going to extend their Super Bowl window beyond the current core of stars they’ll need contributions from their draft classes.

Through 1.5 seasons the 2022 draft class doesn’t appear to be on track to contribute much down the road.

Quarterback Brock Purdy, the final pick last year, is the obvious headliner, but beyond that the 49ers’ contributions from second-year players have been minimal with not many signs that any of them are trending upward.

Let’s run through San Francisco’s nine-player class for a quick update:

Drake Jackson shines with three sacks for 49ers in Week 1

Few NFL Trojans had a better Week 1 than Drake Jackson. #FTTB #USC

With the focus on the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa, another San Francisco 49er made a stealth move in Week 1 of the 2023 season. Everyone seemed to forget about former USC Trojan Drake Jackson.

After one game this season, Jackson already has matched the number of sacks he registered in 15 games during his entire rookie season.

The second-year defensive end recorded three sacks against quarterback Kenny Pickett in the 49ers’ 30-7 rout of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“We was hunting,” Jackson said after the game. “I didn’t really have anything going through my mind, if we’re being honest. But we’re always hunting, so I got a hunter’s mentality. If I see somebody running, I got to go get him. So I seen him breaking out, and I want to just get him down before he could throw a pass or scramble because he is a good scrambler.”

Jackson recorded 103 tackles, 25 tackles for a loss, 12.5 sacks, and two interceptions through three seasons with the Trojans over his career.

Check out our Pac-12 football predictions roundtable for the 2023 season.

NFL Twitter reacts to Brock Purdy’s impressive performance in Week 1 vs. Steelers

Following the 49ers’ 30-7 rout on the road against the Steelers, NFL Twitter chimed in with a flurry of different reactions on Sunday.

On the opening drive of the season, the San Francisco 49ers forced a quick three-and-out with a Drake Jackson sack on Kenny Pickett. On offense, Brock Purdy, Brandon Aiyuk and Kyle Shanahan capitalized with a surgical drive down the field a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.

Following their impressive drive to start the season, the 49ers never looked back. In his return to the field, Purdy spun the rock for 19-of-29 passing for 220 yards through the air to go along with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Christian McCaffrey picked up right where he left off, rushing for 151 yards with one long touchdown run.

Brandon Aiyuk looked like he could’ve sparked a breakout campaign with eight catches for 129 yards receiving. Aiyuk tacked on two touchdown receptions along with a key block to spring Christian McCaffrey on his touchdown run.

As the 49ers’ offensive cruised up and down the field, their defense handled business on the other side of the ball. Jackson recorded three sacks while Talanoa Hufanga and Charvarius Ward each picked off Pickett.

Following the 49ers’ 30-7 rout on the road in Week 1 over the Steelers, NFL Twitter chimed in with reactions. Here’s a look at what fans and analysts were saying on social media on Sunday.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

Watch: Drake Jackson sacks Kenny Pickett to force 3-and-out on opening drive of season

Drake Jackson wasted no time getting his first sack of the season on the board.

Drake Jackson wasted no time getting his first sack of the season on the board.

On the opening drive of the 2023 NFL season, the San Francisco 49ers’ defense flexed their power early against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After an incompletion from Kenny Pickett, the Steelers set up for a third and five from their own 25-yard line.

The next snap, Pickett was put under pressure from the 49ers’ interior rush led by Arik Armstead and was flushed out of the pocket. As he scrambled, Jackson came in for a sack. After the sack, the Steelers had to punt the ball away following a three-and-out to start their season.

Watch via @49ers on Twitter:

After Jackson’s sack, Brock Purdy and the 49ers marched down the field to secure a 7-0 lead with a touchdown catch from Brandon Aiyuk.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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Projecting 49ers new DE depth chart following roster moves

The #49ers DE depth chart looks different (and much better) with Nick Bosa at the top of it.

The 49ers on Friday made a couple of moves official.

They announced the five-year contract extension for defensive end Nick Bosa, and in a corresponding move released defensive end Austin Bryant.

That means there’s a little bit of a shakeup in the 49ers’ defensive end depth chart heading into a Week 1 matchup against the Steelers.

In a world where Bosa did not sign his deal and was not on hand for the season opener, Bryant likely would’ve played a lot since the DE group was thin and largely unproven.

Even with Bosa back in the building it’s a little surprising the team released a defensive end. Bosa didn’t get any full-speed practices in during the offseason so Sunday will be his first football since January. It would’ve made sense if the club wanted as much insurance there as possible for the opener, but the fact they released Bryant is an indicator they anticipate Bosa to play a lot and at a high level.

Here’s what the new DE depth chart should look like Sunday:

State of the Roster: Can 49ers defensive end depth step up?

Our State of the Roster continues with a look at a 49ers defensive end group that’s full of question marks.

With 49ers OTAs in full swing, we’re taking a position-by-position look at the team’s roster to figure out the strengths, weaknesses, potential dark horses to make the team and other nuggets about the players who will be competing for jobs on the 53-man roster.

It’s impossible to say whether the 49ers have enough in their defensive end room entering training camp. Their group of DEs all come with significant question marks as defensive line coach Kris Kocurek aims to work his magic again on underutilized pass rushers still trying to find their way in the NFL.

While San Francisco doesn’t have any sure things at DE behind Nick Bosa, there’s plenty of reason for optimism. Players like Samson Ebukam, Charles Omenihu, Kerry Hyder and Arden Key have all experienced breakout success while playing on the 49ers’ defensive line. There’s a chance the club sees similar results with this year’s DE group (non-Bosa division). That’s what they’re banking on, anyway.

There could be changes coming depending on how the team feels about its DEs once training camp starts, but lets look at what the 90-man roster looks like at that spot heading into camp: