49ers celebrate Taco Tuesday in fitting fashion
It's Tuesday, so that means Tacos. And the 49ers now have one in their defensive line rotation. San Francisco announced the signing of defensive lineman Taco Charlton. In a corresponding move, they waived safety Avery Young. Charlton's arrival adds another former first-rounder to a defensive front that is stacked with premium picks. He was a first-round […]
It's Tuesday, so that means Tacos. And the 49ers now have one in their defensive line rotation.
San Francisco announced the signing of defensive lineman Taco Charlton. In a corresponding move, they waived safety Avery Young.
Charlton's arrival adds another former first-rounder to a defensive front that is stacked with premium picks. He was a first-round pick of the Cowboys in 2017.
Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, Javon Kinlaw and Clelin Ferrell are all former first-round picks on the 49ers' defensive line depth chart.
Charlton now joins that list to prove additional depth to a unit that is without Defensive Player of the Year Bosa as his contract holdout drags on. Edge rusher Austin Bryant and defensive tackle Kalia Davis have also been missing from recent practices.
The chances of Charlton making the roster appear slim, though he has signed with a team that has a reputation for helping unheralded defensive linemen revive their careers.
Kerry Hyder Jr, who subsequently re-joined the 49ers after a season in Seattle, Arden Key and Charles Omenihu have all parlayed strong campaigns playing under defensive line coach Kris Kocurek into free agent paydays in recent years.
Charlton joins Ferrell and Bryant in hoping Kocurek can turn his career around.
Last season, he played only five games for the Bears. He did not register a single sack.
After an underwhelming two years in Dallas, he had his most productive season with the Dolphins in 2019, when he registered five sacks. He moved on to the Chiefs in 2020. Charlton recorded two sacks for Kansas City but was on injured reserve for their Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers. In 2021, he had a half sack in 11 games for the Steelers.
Charlton will try to reproduce the kind of play that saw him finish the 2019 season third in pressures for the Dolphins with 21. Having signed under two weeks out from the Niners' first preseason game, Charlton has an uphill battle to make enough of an impression to be in the mix for a place on their loaded roster.
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