The 2024 San Francisco 49ers roster is in an interesting spot. With Brock Purdy’s first big contract rapidly approaching, the Niners are having to make some tough choices. Since the team can’t pay everyone, the 49ers will have to prioritize their top players, which means losing some in the middle of the roster. That’s why in 2024, the 49ers will need some hidden gems like Drake Nugent and Robert Beal Jr. to step up.
Robert Beal Jr., not Drake Jackson, is the young DE to watch
One of the biggest things the 49ers defense needs to be truly elite is a defensive end opposite Nick Bosa who is, at worst, solid, and at best well above average.
San Francisco thought it was getting this when general manager John Lynch took USC DE Drake Jackson in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft. However, in two years on the team, Jackson has yet to prove he’s that guy.
Jackson played 15 games as a rookie and had 3.0 sacks, which is a decent start to a career. However, in 2023, while he also had 3.0 sacks in just eight games, he didn’t show the type of improvement Kyle Shanahan and company were looking for. The team shut him down after Week 8 following trades for Randy Gregory and Chase Young.
What was even more interesting about that was in Week 15, the 49ers were dealing with injuries and they needed to add DEs to the roster for the stretch run. When this happened, it was 2023 fifth-round pick Robert Beal Jr. and not Jackson who got the call.
Beal ended up playing a handful of snaps at the close of the regular season and also in the playoffs, spelling the team’s star pass rushers. That showed the 49ers coaching staff trusted the rookie more than Jackson.
Heading into 2024, Young and Gregory are gone with soon-to-be 32-year-old Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos in their place. That means there should be a wide-open competition for the other starting DE position between Beal, Jackson, Floyd, and Gross-Matos.
If Robert Beal Jr. can improve a little in his big-play ability and keep the consistency that the coaches love, he can win that starting job.
Drake Nugent can be the man in the middle for another championship contender
Back to the 49ers roster and salary cap dilemma, the offensive line is a place where the team could suffer when they have to pay Purdy, Bosa, Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, Fred Warner, and others big money.
The San Francisco starting O-line currently consists of left tackle Trent Williams, left guard Aaron Banks, center Jake Brendel, right guard Jon Feliciano, and right tackle Colton McKivitz. That is an aging group with Brendel (31), Feliciano (32), and Williams (36 in July) that could use some new blood.
Enter Drake Nugent, the undrafted free agent, and center for the national championship-winning Michigan Wolverines.
At Stanford and then Michigan, Nugent started 39 games in college and was a team captain for the Cardinal. He has good technique and is a smart player who can anchor an offensive line. There are downsides, too, which is why he wasn’t drafted. At 6-foot-1, 298 pounds, he is a little undersized, and he can struggle at times when left on an island.
Still, with the right coaching and teammates around him, Nugent could develop into a starting center in the league. And while Brendel has started every game for the 49ers the last two seasons, he’s an average veteran who was the 16th-ranked center by PFF grades last season.
The Niners need young players to step up and grab roles this coming season, and Nugent could be a guy to do that. It doesn’t seem like he’s the type of player to beat out Brendel in camp, but if he gets an opportunity to get in the lineup due to injury or ineffectiveness of other players, look for him to be a hard one to put back on the bench after he gets his shot.
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