49ers: Power ranking San Francisco's top 30 players of 2018

San Francisco 49ers: Power ranking the top 30 players of 2018

By Aaron Tan | Jan 4, 2019

GREEN BAY, WI - OCTOBER 15: George Kittle #85, Matt Breida #22 and Kendrick Bourne #84 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrate after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on October 15, 2018 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

9 of 31

SANTA CLARA, CA – JANUARY 01: Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks passes the ball while being pressured by Ronald Blair #98 of the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on January 1, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

. Defensive End Ronald Blair. 23. team. 42. .

Defensive end Ronald Blair may just turn out to be a rare gem of a former general manager Trent Baalke pick. Blair did not start a single game for the 49ers this season and served only in a rotational role, but it seemed like he would make a big play week after week.

And the stats do not lie — Blair had 5.5 sacks this season for the 49ers, tied for second on the team. When you are a backup and put up those kind of numbers, that is simply impressive, to say the least.

If you go back and watch Blair’s first two years on tape, you can notice the progression that the third-year pro has made. Blair is a great example of a player who has slowly but surely worked hard to improve in this league — and hopefully Solomon Thomas can experience this same type of progression.