The position group that has changed the most during the offseason for the San Francisco 49ers is the defensive line.
Having swung and missed on a pair of trades last season to acquire Randy Gregory and Chase Young, the 49ers added extensively to the edge position to get Nick Bosa more help while also doing some remodeling to the interior D-Line.
OTAs and minicamp provide precious little in terms of a window into whether the changes will work. However, training camp, which starts on Tuesday when veterans report, will offer a much clearer idea.
Bosa set for crucial sharpening
Nick Bosa missed all of training camp last year amid negotiations over the contract extension he signed a few days before the season.
After the Super Bowl defeat to the Chiefs, Bosa conceded that the lack of preparation contributed to a season in which his production dipped from 18.5 sacks in 2022 to 10.5, though he did have 95 pressures.
This year, Bosa took an unconventional step for the former second overall pick, attending both OTAs and mandatory minicamp.
The crucial sharpening he missed out on last year, though, was the one-on-one reps he typically gets against All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams.
He will not miss out in 2024, however, giving arguably the two most important non-quarterbacks on the roster the opportunity to fine tune their remarkable skills by pitting themselves against each other.
Both have previously spoken of the benefits of those reps, and Bosa will hope to reap the rewards this year.
Filling two underrated voids
In respect of the defensive line, the man with the biggest task, at least on the surface, is Maliek Collins, the defensive tackle for whom the 49ers traded after reluctantly cutting Arik Armstead.
Collins won’t be asked to fill the leadership left by Armstead, but he should by well-placed to replace his disruption having recorded a better pressure rate than both Armstead and the man he will start alongside, Javon Hargrave, last season.
Beyond the task Collins faces, there are two underrated voids the 49ers are hoping to fill on the defensive front.
San Francisco took an eyebrow-raising bet on Yetur Gross-Matos despite four years of underwhelming production with the Carolina Panthers. The 49ers, though, are banking on athletic traits that fit what they look for in defensive linemen and versatility that saw him create pressure from the interior as well as off the edge in Carolina, doing so in the belief he could fill the hole left by Charles Omenihu after the 2022 season.
Omenihu was a key part of the D-Line rotation before leaving for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023, playing as a defensive end on base downs but kicking inside on pass rushing downs.
A year before Omenihu's departure, the 49ers lost nose tackle D.J. Jones to the Denver Broncos in free agency and have never properly replaced his run-stopping prowess. That much was apparent as the run defense faded badly down the stretch last season, an issue exacerbated by Armstead's absence through injury.
The 49ers added a run-stopping force in Jordan Elliott in free agency, while defensive line coach Kris Kocurek compared the skill set of undrafted free agent Evan Anderson, whom they signed to a deal featuring $280,000 guaranteed, to that of Jones.
Camp will provide plenty of evidence as to whether Gross-Matos can become the next Omenihu and provide an indication of Anderson's hopes of making the roster and filling the Jones void.
Jackson's make-or-break year
Gross-Matos is likely to have a defined role in the rotation, but it's less clear how involved former second-round pick Drake Jackson will be in what is a make-or-break year three.
Jackson missed the second half of last season and the entirety of the 49ers' run to the Super Bowl because of a knee injury on which he had surgery.
It means he heads into his third season having recorded just six sacks in his career, last year's season opener in which he racked up three sacks proving a false dawn.
Now, Jackson doesn't have much time to knock the rust off and, in addition to Bosa, is also behind free agent signing Floyd and potentially Gross-Matos on the depth chart. Additionally, he'll have competition from last year's fifth-round pick Robert Beal Jr, whom the 49ers trusted enough to give him snaps in the playoffs and the Super Bowl.
But Jackson still boasts great explosiveness, the versatility to play inside and out and bend that nobody on the edge rush depth chart outside of Floyd has in their locker.
There's still hope for Jackson becoming a consistently impactful pass rusher for the 49ers, but this must be the year he puts it altogether. He needs to be healthy and start showing signs of making the leap sooner rather than later.
