49ers roster: 3 players who aren’t getting enough respect in 2021

Unsung 49ers Player No. 2: Defensive Tackle Arik Armstead

Should the 49ers have kept Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner over fellow lineman Arik Armstead entering 2020?

Perhaps.

But Armstead is here now and will be for a while.

Armstead didn’t come close to matching his career-best 10 sacks recorded when he and Buckner last played together in 2019. No, Armstead’s 3.5 sacks last year were more indicative of the numbers he posted over the first four years of his career. And to some, that’s reverting back to “bust” status.

Yet watching Armstead’s game film is much more indicative of the kind of impact he had on the field, especially last year when he was asked to bump outside as an edge rusher instead of his more natural interior defensive tackle role.

Armstead might not have tallied up the sacks last year. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t a force whatsoever.

Case in point, he tallied 30 quarterback hurries, which ranked second best in his career only to the 43 he enjoyed among a stacked Niners defensive line the previous year, and his seven quarterback hits was just one off from the eight recorded back in 2019, too.

To say Armstead was a non-factor last year would be irresponsible, and he plays a big role in trying to create more opportunities for other players and deserves more respect.