49ers Kyle Shanahan on Drake Jackson: "He was Unbelievable This Offseason"

2023 continues to be laid out as a breakout year for defensive end Drake Jackson.

The hype when he was drafted by the 49ers at the end of the second round was viewed as incredible. And yet, his rookie season was average and even mediocre at times. There was a lot to be had from him and led to a disappointing rookie campaign.

However, Jackson is able to see what went wrong for him and what he needed to attack in the offseason to take that leap. The 49ers are fully expecting and desperately need him to. So far, he's making a lasting impression on everyone at the 49ers' facility, including Kyle Shanahan.

"Drake, you guys have heard about it and it's exactly what we've said, he was unbelievable this offseason," Shanahan said. "Even when it wasn't voluntary, he was here on his own anyways, just living in the weight room trying to change his body and that's stuff he had to learn from last year just like Danny and you can tell how guys learn it by how they start working before they see you and Drake did that big time. It's carried over to phase one, two, and throughout OTAs and phase three, and I’m excited for him to now get away, keep doing that when we're away from him and we'll see how he is when we put the pads on.”

This is definitely going to be a quote to excite the fans, and why wouldn't it be? Jackson has been getting expectations and hype set on him since the offseason started. It's why the 49ers didn't even glance at a veteran free agent edge rusher. All the chips are on the table with Jackson. He's either going to step up and be the player that was a "steal" for the 49ers in 2022, or he's going to fall short yet again.

Either way, Shanahan is impressed with what he's seen thus far. Now all he cares about is what Jackson can do once the pads are put on and the hitting begins. That is where Jackson can really expand and capitalize on the momentum, he has built himself.