EDGE Kyler Fackrell
The Kyler Fackrell signing excited me back during free agency when I thought he would be a rotational pass rusher behind Joey Bosa and Uchenna Nwosu. He was solid in New York when it came to being a contributor in the right spots.
After listening to what's come out of training camp though in addition to these first two preseason games specifically, it's time to reframe the conversation. Fackrell is now in a direct competition with Nwosu to be the starting EDGE opposite Joey Bosa. Both played in Sunday's game against the Niners and Fackrell was more noticeable than Nwosu on practically every defensive snap.
Fackrell finished the game two tackles (1 TFL), three quarterback hits, four pressures, and one sack.
He was harassing both Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance on a consistent basis. Per PFF, he had an 89.7 pass-rushing grade.
Look at Breiden Fehoko and Kyler Fackrell blow this run play up. The front 7 is gonna be FUN to watch this year. pic.twitter.com/kdRBpCCbKg
— Guilty As Charged Podcast (@GACPodcast17) August 24, 2021
Both Nwosu and Fackrell had similar competition that they played against in this one as well. It's not like one was playing with the second-team guys and the other was playing with the third, which makes it more useful as an evaluation tool.
Whether Fackrell can replicate this type of production in the regular season remains to be seen. He is primarily going against so-so Niners' offensive linemen.
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One more preseason game plus another two or so weeks of practice is still a lot of time to determine the winner of a positional competition. All of that being said-it's hard for me to look at the tape (and numbers) and say anything other than advantage, Fackrell.