49ers 2018 offseason positional preview: Defensive line

Defensive Linemen on the 49ers Roster

Aside from some depth pieces, the Niners defensive line remains largely intact from what it was a year ago.

San Francisco 49ers

Here’s the current crop of D-linemen on San Francisco’s 90-man offseason roster:

• Blaine Woodson*
• Niles Scott*
• Kentavius Street*
• Jeremiah Attaochu
• Solomon Thomas
• Cassius Marsh
• Sheldon Day
• DeForest Buckner
• Ronald Blair
• Arik Armstead
• D.J. Jones
• Jullian Taylor*
• Earl Mitchell

* denotes rookie

Outside of the rookies and free-agent pickup Jeremiah Attaochu, this unit looks awfully similar to what the 49ers fielded in 2017.

Last year, Football Outsiders ranked San Francisco’s D-line 15th against the run but 29th against the pass. Barring some massive improvement from the pass rush, it’s likely that particular category won’t improve much in 2018 either.

It’s anyone’s guess how many linemen head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. name to the 53-man roster. Seventh-round pickup Jullian Taylor might be the only rookie named to the squad, as fellow first-year pro Kentavius Street recovers from a torn ACL suffered at his pro day.

But it wouldn’t be a shock to see upwards of nine or 10 players selected from this crop. As the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles proved last year, having a solid rotation is key for a deep playoff push.

It’s critical to have big contributors too, which leads us to why DeForest Buckner should be a player to watch this season.