The San Francisco 49ers suffered a tough blow to their defensive line Thursday when defensive end Drake Jackson went on season-ending IR.
Jackson underwent offseason knee surgery and figured to be a key piece of the 49ers defensive line rotation in his third season. Instead, because he went on IR before final cuts, his 2024 campaign is over before it started.
Missing Jackson hurts the 49ers’ depth at a key position, but it opens the door for second-year DE Robert Beal Jr. to take on a bigger role.
Beal put together a good Thursday practice. According to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, he posted at least two and maybe three sacks during the session.
Having Beal find his footing in the NFL this year would be a massive win for the 49ers defensive line.
San Francisco selected Beal in the sixth round of last year’s draft. An injury kept him out until the final four games of the year where he played 39 defensive snaps and registered five tackles and a sack.
Beal’s an intriguing player because he has every desirable measurable. He’s 6-foot-4, 247 pounds with nearly 35-inch arms. He also posted a 4.48 in the 40-yard dash with a 123-inch broad jump.
While his college numbers don’t jump off the page, his athletic testing numbers combined with his size and length give him an enormously high ceiling in the NFL.
Last season he never got a real chance to make an impact. By the time he was finally healthy enough to play, the 49ers had traded for DEs Randy Gregory and Chase Young.
The 2024 campaign is different and the door for Beal to step into a larger role is wide open.
Nick Bosa and Leonard Floyd will start. Yetur Gross-Matos will be heavily featured in the DE rotation. Beyond that the 49ers’ DE depth chart is littered with question marks.
This offseason has given Beal a real chance to integrate himself into the defensive line rotation, and the fruits of his labor are starting to show in training camp.
It’s unlikely he’ll ever be a star at the position, but the 49ers don’t need a star. They need a reliable fourth edge rusher who can provide the depth that has made San Francisco’s defensive line so dangerous in the past. Beal will have a huge opportunity to fit into a role where his athletic gifts can shine and he can solve a significant problem on the 49ers defensive line.
