49ers’ Buckner will play inside — and out
Perhaps it’s an act of inspiration.
The less charitable view is that it’s a move borne out of desperation.
Whatever the case, the 49ers recently told DeForest Buckner, their dominant interior defensive lineman, he could be spending at least part of his time this season rushing from the outside.
“I just walked into a meeting one day and they told me ‘Buck, you’re going to be at the end position in this package,’ ” Buckner said. “So I was like, ‘All right. Sounds good.’ It’s a confidence booster that they can see I’m able to rush on the edge.”
Buckner, the No. 7 pick in 2016, still figures to play most of his snaps inside, where he often wreaks havoc with his 6-foot-7, 300-pound frame. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh did say he wants to experiment with Buckner outside, where he’s less apt to face the double teams he often attracts.
“The challenge for us is how to get Buck 1-on-1s as many times as possible,” Saleh said.
“Testing him out there at that end spot to see what he looks like. I mean, he’s unbelievable. He is a special talent.
“It’s on us to make sure that we put him in position, however we need to. Now his best is when he is inside rushing the passer, but as a changeup, it could happen, for sure.”
The move hardly would be unprecedented. Last year, Jacksonville defensive lineman Calais Campbell, 31, who is 6-8 and 300 pounds, also moonlighted at end en route to racking up a career-best 14.5 sacks.
In fact, because Campbell is similar in size to Buckner, and also plays in a 4-3 defense, Saleh was asked in December if he’d consider moving Buckner outside in the future before the 49ers played Jacksonville.
The gist of Saleh’s answer: Buckner was too good at his natural position to move.
“We’ll always evaluate — if I were a betting man, I’d say that Buck is a dominant threetechnique and it’d be really hard to try to move him at this point,” Saleh said. “… I’d say he would not be a guy we would want to experiment with.”
So why are the 49ers experimenting with Buckner eight months later? It could be a statement about the state of their outside pass rush.
The 49ers are hopeful Cassius Marsh, whom they signed to an extension in February, and Jeremiah Attaouchu, whom they signed to a modest one-year deal in March, are edge rushers who can assist a defense that had the sixthfewest sacks (30) in the NFL last year. However, Marsh and Attaouchu have combined career totals of 16 sacks in eight seasons, and the first 11 training-camp practices haven’t produced hard evidence they are poised for a breakout season.
On Monday, Buckner jokingly was asked if he was the NFL’s next great edge rusher.
“That’s a great question,” Buckner said, smiling. “That’s why we have training camp — I have to work on that. But I think it’s pretty cool the coaches are experimenting with me on the edge. It changes the game up a little bit and shows my versatility. I’m just trying to affect the game.”
Given his size, Buckner doesn’t have the bend associated with premier edge rushers, but his strength is an obvious asset. On Tuesday, he lined up outside and shoved aside left tackle Garry Gilliam for a would-be sack of Jimmy Garoppolo. Buckner previously has gone against Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Staley, who was given a rest day Tuesday. Staley’s immediate feedback: Buckner forced him to change his technique.
“He was just saying with how big and strong (I am), he has to set a different way with guys like me,” Buckner said. “He can’t really do what he normally does, I guess.”
Wherever he lines up, Buckner is a good bet to have the most sacks on a team in which he and Attaochu are the only players to have at least six sacks in a season. Last year, Buckner had just three sacks, but often was around quarterbacks, posting team highs with 52 pressures and 19 QB hits.
Now, the 49ers, a team desperately seeking more passrush pressure, hope he’s good enough to make their summer experiment look inspired this season.
“I didn’t feel like it was a challenge,” Buckner said of assuming his new role. “It was an opportunity to show them what I can do and my versatility.”