Ricky Jean-Francois, Defensive Tackle
Specs: Former 7th round pick (2009) by the 49ers, 10 year NFL vet, 32 years old, 6’2″ 309 lbs, reliable, experienced backup
The Why: Across his 10 seasons in the NFL, Jean-Francois has played in 137 games and made 48 starts. He is, by all accounts, a career backup. He’s alos obviously well-seasoned at this point at 32 years old, but the reasons you go after the former Detroit Lions defender are that he has experience in multiple defensive fronts (six NFL teams), that he recently played for the Patriots (2017), and that he is a beast of a human being.
Jean-Francois is not going to give you much thrust up the middle in terms of pass-rush, but what he lacks there he’ll make up for simply by being difficult to move.
SideLion, our sister site covering the Detroit Lions, said had this to say about the former LSU Tiger during training camp: “As a respected, high-character veteran, he offered an important professional presence and mentorship for the Lions’ younger defensive linemen.” If that does not sound like exactly the type of presence you want for Derrick Nnadi and Khalen Saunders, then what do you want?