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Some subscribe to the idea that you shouldn't hand a big payday to a player whose outlier season falls during a contract year. Defensive lineman Arik Armstead's career-best season came last year when he led the San Francisco 49ers with 10 sacks. The production came during his fifth-year option, and the 49ers rewarded the defender this offseason with a five-year, $85 million deal.
Armstead had a lot of help along the defensive line last season. He had rookie phenom
Nick Bosa and veteran Dee Ford (at times) causing havoc on the edges. He had
DeForest Buckner plugging up the middle. It truly was one of the best defensive lines the Niner Faithful had seen in a long while.
And that's the 49ers' philosophy. Own a daunting defensive line that can generate a pass rush, and then build the rest around that. When defensive end Takkarist McKinley became available again this week, San Francisco jumped at the chance to
claim him off waivers and acquired him on Wednesday. The defensive line, after all, has taken a hit this season. Of course, that has been the case across much of San Francisco's roster.
Ford has not played a snap since Week 1 due to a back injury. Bosa is out for the season after suffering a torn ACL. Solomon Thomas sustained the same injury two plays after Bosa. Buckner? He's flourishing in Indianapolis thanks to an offseason trade to the Colts. Ronald Blair has yet to play this season.
Where does that leave Armstead? Without the supporting cast he had last season.
"When it comes to production, that's a big deal, especially with someone like Arik, who has done it and has been here in the past," head coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday on KNBR's
Murph & Mac show. "But our production has been down across the board on D-line. And D-line is a tough position with production. I mean, everyone bases it off sacks and everything like that. When you get sacks, and you get those numbers up, a lot of it has to do with committee, and that's one reason I think all our guys had good numbers last year."
The 49ers have tried to find players who can come in and help fill some of the lost production. The team signed Ziggy Ansah after the Bosa, Ford, and Thomas injuries. Ansah's fate was the same as the others. He landed on injured reserve on October 10 due to a biceps injury.
There just weren't any names out there who could make up the production and impact that Bosa, Ford, and others made along the defensive line.
"When you have two studs off the edge, and we had two studs inside, and mixing them up throughout a game, and it's keeping everybody fresh, everyone gets to eat, and everyone has good numbers," Shanahan continued. "And when you take a bunch of those guys out, especially your two top edge guys after the first game of the year, everyone's going to hurt, and there's not going to be as much space, and you're not going to get to go off on those numbers.
"Armstead knows that, and he wants to play at a higher level. We want everyone to play at a higher level. But by no means does Armstead's numbers mean that he's playing bad football. I mean, Arik defends the fun better than anyone we have, and as good as anyone I've seen in this league."
Armstead's Pro Football Focus run grade, by the way, ranks No. 60 among defensive linemen, for those who place significant stock in the analytics site's grades. He ranks No. 24 among edge defenders. Armstead's percentage (8 percent) of defensive run snaps on which he was responsible for a stop ties for No. 43 among edge defenders.
"We'd love to get more production in the pass game and stuff, and Arik's working to do that, but it's also just not on him," Shanahan added. "That's on a whole group of guys, and that's what's been different this year than last year because last year we had a Super Bowl pass rush ... better than anyone I've seen in a number of years.
"When you lose all your edge guys, and you don't have the same depth, not having Buck, losing Solomon (Thomas), not having Ronald Blair; there's a number of guys, and that affects everybody."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.
The news of Arik Armstead's departure from the San Francisco 49ers after nine seasons with the team shocked linebacker Fred Warner. Armstead, a former first-round pick, was an impactful force on the football field. However, his availability over the last two seasons forced the 49ers to reevaluate his contract, and when his salary could not be significantly reduced, the two sides parted ways.
"Huge surprise," Warner said of learning that Armstead was being released. "Ever since I've been here, we called him the blueprint for how to be a Niner. That was the longest-tenured Niner that's been here and a guy that's done it right through and through."
Warner has been in the NFL long enough to understand how the league works. Over the years, he's watched several
We are less than one week away from the NFL Draft, and the San Francisco 49ers have their first day-one draft pick since 2021. That was the year they selected QB Trey Lance number three overall. The trade-up to get Lance cost the 49ers their first-round picks in 2022 and 2023. And now that they are back in the first round, at pick 31, fans are anxious to see what the team does with the pick. And with former assistant GM, Adam Peters, now in Washington, it will be interesting to see how well the 49ers draft without Peters in the room.
We looked back at the seven drafts GM John Lynch and Head Coach Kyle Shanahan have led to see what information we could pull from those drafts. There were plenty of hits, plenty of misses, and a few surprises along the way. The draft picks are
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy threw for a franchise-record 4,280 yards last season, leading the team to the Super Bowl and earning his first Pro Bowl selection. He held onto the football 39 times on the ground, rushing for 144 yards and scoring twice. This marked a significant improvement over his rookie 2022 campaign when he had 22 carries for 13 yards and a score.
Purdy further displayed his athleticism during the 49ers' playoff game against the Detroit Lions last season, helping engineer a comeback victory while rushing for 48 yards on five carries.
On Tuesday morning, Purdy joined the "Pat McAfee Show," acknowledging that he believes he can contribute more rushing yards if called upon. However, that decision rests with head coach Kyle Shanahan,
In 2020, the San Francisco 49ers traded up from the No. 31 overall pick to the No. 25 spot with their sights set on a wide receiver brimming with potential. It was the first year of COVID, so NFL teams conducted their drafts remotely, providing fans with a unique glimpse into team decision-makers' makeshift home war rooms.
Almost immediately after Aiyuk heard his name called, fans caught a glimpse of the reactions from head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
In honor of Draft Day, let's throw it back to Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch's reaction to drafting Brandon Aiyuk
