San Francisco 49ers have enticing opportunity to unlock Josh Uche's full potential with free agent deal

The San Francisco 49ers can count edge rusher among their most pressing needs on a stacked roster.

Despite an apparent interest in re-signing Chase Young and the likelihood is they will attempt to do the same with Clelin Ferrell, the 49ers need to look at external alternatives after a 2023 season in which the Niners did not get consistent pass rush production from the defensive end spot across from Nick Bosa.

As it stands, the only edge rushers under contract with a shot at being on the 53-man roster next season beyond Bosa are Drake Jackson, last year's fifth-round pick Robert Beal Jr. and Austin Bryant, the latter signed to a reserve/futures deal after the Niners' Super Bowl 58 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.

One way or another, that will have to change and, after examining Dorance Armstrong's fit as a potential free agent signing at edge rusher, let's move on to another potential arrival.

Patriots DE Josh Uche is a free agent option for the San Francisco 49ers

Coming off a three-sack season for a dismal 2023 New England Patriots team, the idea of Josh Uche as a potential solution at edge may be a dubious one to many.

But Uche had 11.5 sacks in 2022 and, while his numbers dropped off drastically from that campaign, A to Z Sports' Patriots writer Sophie Weller's succinct assessment of the former Michigan pass rusher has statistical support.

Said Weller:

"Josh Uche had the best season of his career in 2022, and despite declining a bit on the stats sheet in 2023, he is still a top pass rusher and should be very popular on free agency."

It is difficult to dispute the claim that Uche is still a top pass rusher when you take into account that, despite the low sack tally, he was 18th in the NFL among edge defenders with at least 200 pass rush snaps in Pro Football Focus' pass rush productivity metric.

Pass rush productivity is calculated by using a formula that combines sacks, hits and hurries relative to how many times a player rushes the passer.

Uche missed two games in 2023, rushing the passer 227 times last season compared to 285 times in 2022. A slight dip in volume owing to knee and ankle injuries could be considered partially to blame for his drop-off, yet, regardless of the reasoning for the decline, the fact remains that Uche is a pass rusher who creates pressure at a very efficient rate.

Fulfiling his potential

For a 49ers team that, like New England, would likely be looking to use Uche in a rotational role rather than asking him to be a three-down player, Uche's effectiveness is very encouraging.

And it is difficult when watching Uche not to believe that the 49ers and their renowned defensive line coach Kris Kocurek could get more out of him.