“He does things out there that I definitely couldn’t do as a rookie”
So far at OTAs and minicamp, there has been no shortage of comments about last year’s top draft pick Trey Lance, but we haven’t heard a ton of things about this year’s top pick, Drake Jackson. Nick Bosa changed that yesterday.
“He’s super talented. He does things out there that I definitely couldn’t do as a rookie. Just the way he moves, he’s definitely got some impressive stuff about him. But it’s only been two days where I’ve seen him. Just a great dude, though. Wants to learn and just really appreciative to be here. I’m glad we got him.”
When pressed on that, Bosa elaborated.
“Just his bend and his mobility that young. He just can bend really well. That’s something that I had to improve on as my career has gone on, as I’ve trained with my brother and our trainer. But he’s just got it naturally. If he can keep building and keep getting better, it’ll be pretty scary.”
If you’re a pass rusher and you can do something that Nick Bosa can’t do, that’s pretty damn special. Jackson’s bend was one of his strengths coming out of the draft, so it’s nice to see that showing up in the early going as well. As DeMeco Ryans pointed out yesterday, he’ll also benefit from being part of a great defensive unit.
“He has really great ability and he just has to keep working. He has the ability to get to the quarterback. And if he keeps working, keeps getting in there with [defensive line coach Kris] Kocurek, and learning from Bosa, learning from [DL] Arik [Armstead], learning from Samson [Ebukam], just diving in and really detailing out his job, Drake has a chance to be a really good player for us. The sky is the limit for him, he just has to keep working, keep improving daily.”
One of the nice things about the situation Jackson is in is that there won’t be a lot of pressure on him to create the team’s pass rush. That will fall on Bosa, Armstead, Kinlaw, and others. The entire focus of the NFL world will be on Trey Lance, which should give Drake time to get his feet wet and develop throughout his rookie season.
Hopefully, the early praise from Bosa and Ryans is a sign of good things to come.
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