With training camps quickly approaching, Pro Football Focus continues its position-group rankings. This time, the analytics site took a look at each NFL team's pass rush. Because San Francisco's unit managed just 30 sacks in 2017, which tied for 26th in the league, you might think to just scroll to the bottom of Gordon McGuinness' feature to see where Pro Football Focus ranks the 49ers.
You won't find them there.
The 49ers pass rush group, which put pressure on opposing quarterbacks on 34.8 percent of plays in 2017 (ranked 13th), ranked a bit higher at No. 19. Below is Pro Football Focus' projected starting lineup for the unit in San Francisco.
Edge Defender: Arik Armstead, 78.9 overall grade
Defensive Interior: DeForest Buckner, 90.4
Defensive Interior: Earl Mitchell, 56.8
Edge Defender: Solomon Thomas, 53.2
Key Rotational Player: Cassius Marsh, n/a
The talent is there, and the potential is high. Many believe the group is just an elite pass rusher away from being a dominant force.
McGuinness wrote the following about the 49ers pass rush. As expected, the discussion begins with defensive lineman DeForest Buckner.
"The talent is there in San Francisco, but the big question is how they get them all on the field together, and make them fit. Buckner, the seventh overall selection in the 2016 draft out of Oregon is the player who everything should run through. His career progressed exactly as the 49ers would have been hoping for in 2017, and his 52 total pressures helped him to the third highest pass-rush grade (89.6) of any interior defensive lineman in the league last year. 2015 first-round draft pick Armstead has been solid, but 77 total pressures through three seasons is a little short of what you would expect from the 17th overall selection in the draft. Thomas was the third overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, but managed just 30 total pressures off the edge in his first season in the league. He was more on an interior player at Stanford, and was a much more successful pass-rusher in his final season in college, so how he progresses, and how he fits with the 49ers defense in 2018 will be interesting to watch."
The 49ers added a pass-rush specialist to the coaching staff this offseason. Chris Kiffin, who is the son of Monte Kiffin and brother of Lane Kiffin, will work to help defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina improve the unit.
"A big thing I saw (from last year) was guys not necessarily rushing together," Kiffin told the Sacramento Bee in May. "You can't look at it as four individual rushers. It's really, you're rushing as one. If we can get that fixed, the pass rush improves."
The 49ers noticeably skipped on drafting a dedicated pass rusher in April. Instead, they will rely on names like Cassius Marsh, Jeremiah Attaochu, and others to prove they can handle the task. While the 49ers hope to generate a pass rush as a group, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is hopeful that an impactful pass rusher will emerge this season.
"You look at [Buckner], you look at Solomon (Thomas), there's enough talent on our D-line," Saleh said in May. "With football players, the difference between the top guy and the next guy is very little. We do think Buck is a dominant football player. We think Solomon's got great upside. Arik (Armstead) has still got tremendous upside, a ceiling that he hasn't even touched yet.
"Then you look at all of the Leos, between Eli (Harold), Dekoda (Watson), Pita (Taumoepenu), Cassius (Marsh), (Jeremiah) Attaochu, even Ronny Blair rushing on the inside. There's a lot of guys. I could name all of them. But, they're all fighting to show something so they can get opportunities to rush the passer this year. Sometimes when you're able to rush as a group, as a unit, especially with the way it's being designed, they can be very effective as a unit. They can.
"Not every team has a Joey Bosa or a Von Miller, where they can just take a complete game over. But, there's a lot of teams that have four really good rushers, and they are very effective rushing the passer, and that's what we're trying to build to be. Who knows, you might be surprised. There might be a star out of the bunch. I have a feeling there might be."
