The San Francisco 49ers may be able to help their defensive line by adding a player who was a healthy inactive for the Kansas City Chiefs by the time the playoffs rolled around.
Defensive end Josh Uche was listed as the most underrated free agent as his position by Pro Football Focus, and the 49ers should be trying to take advantage of talented DEs flying under the radar.
Uche was traded to the Chiefs by the New England Patriots halfway through last season after a disappointing start to the campaign. He played 37 snaps across five games for Kansas City before getting listed as a healthy scratch for the next four weeks. He played in Week 18 when the Chiefs rested their starters, but he didn’t play well enough to earn any postseason playing time. He was a healthy inactive for all three of Kansas City’s playoff games.
The Patriots drafted Uche in the second round of the 2020 draft. He posted 4.0 sacks in 21 games across his first two years before breaking out with 11.5 sacks in 2022. Uche looked like a rising star at the position, but followed up his 2022 season with 3.0 sacks in 2023 and 2.0 last season.
Signing Uche isn’t a fix-all solution for the 49ers, but it’s the kind of flier they’ve had success with in the past.
Arden Key was struggling to find his way in the NFL before joining the 49ers in the 2021 season where he put up 6.5 sacks and earned a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars the following offseason.
Charles Omenihu was acquired via trade with the Houston Texans in 2021, but he saw similar success in 2022 where he had a career-high 4.5 sacks as a versatile piece of the 49ers defensive line. He turned that into a sizable free agent deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.
If Uche can step in and kickstart his career after a pair of rough years, it would help the 49ers anemic pass rush while paving a new path forward for the 26-year-old’s NFL career.