Kris Kocurek Explains Why He Loves Drake Jackson

SANTA CLARA -- Defensive line coach Kris Kocurek spoke to Bay Area reporters Wednesday in the 49ers' auditorium. Here's what he said about rookie defensive end Drake Jackson.

ME: When did Drake Jackson first land on your radar, what do you like about him and were you surprised when he was available?

KOCUREK: "Yeah I was surprised when he was still available at 61. I always try to predict where guys are going to go, just looking at skillsets, looking at what value they have to us and the other 31 teams. I probably started watching him a couple weeks before the Combine. We try to get two to three games watched before the Combine so we can see through the workouts at the Combine and the interviews if this is the guy that we're seeing on tape. So I watched two to three games on tape of Drake before we had our Combine interview, and just the skillset, the pass-rush ability, the bend on the edge, the ability to win one on one on the edge, the ability to flatten out at the top of his rush and then the second burst -- you've got your first burst where you get off the football and you're into the blocker, and then once you beat the blocker, then you have a second burst to the quarterback where the sacks show up. The second burst just jumped off the tape. Then he has really long arms along with that second burst, so I could see him becoming a really productive NFL pass rusher."

Watch the full interview below.