49ers’ pass rush in need of work
During his 15-year career as an NFL safety, 49ers general manager John Lynch played behind both historically dominant defensive lines and less fearsome units.
On Thursday, to explain the importance of a strong pass rush, Lynch put it in terms anyone who has played backyard football could comprehend.
“Shoot, I played in Tampa (Bay), with that D-line and then I experienced playing the same defense with another D-line,” Lynch said, smiling. “I used to say (counting to) three Mississippi is a lot easier than five Mississippi. It’s a big difference. We understand that.”
Lynch also understands many think the 49ers still have a five-Mississippi pass rush.
A season after posting the sixth-fewest sacks in the NFL, and four months after not drafting a pass-rusher, the 49ers’ first two exhibition games have only intensified concerns about their ability to harass quarterbacks.
The 49ers have two sacks —
only four teams have fewer — and their first-string defense has offered little resistance in its only two drives against starting quarterbacks: Dallas’ Dak Prescott and Houston’s Deshaun Watson combined to complete 8 of 11 passes for 112 yards and toss two touchdowns.
Last week, Watson’s lone drive began a night of almost nonexistent pressure. With edge rushers Jeremiah Attaochu and Cassius Marsh combining to play 68 snaps, the 49ers had zero sacks and three QB hits.
On Saturday, when the 49ers play at Indianapolis in their third preseason game, Lynch is hopeful the return of defensive linemen Solomon Thomas and Arik Armstead will increase optimism.
“I know a lot of people saw maybe last week and we weren’t hitting the quarterback a bunch,” Lynch said. “I think that people want to be excited and maybe that’s the thing that’s holding them back. Do we have an urgency there?
“We’ve addressed it with numbers and, collectively, we think we’re going to be better there. We’ve got to go show that we can be and will be. I want to see us with the full complement: Solomon and Arik weren’t there last week, and I think they are big pieces to what we do.”
Armstead (hamstring) hasn’t played in the preseason and Thomas (concussion) hasn’t played since he shared a sack with defensive lineman DeForest Buckner in a 13-snap performance in the preseason opener.
The 49ers hope the development of that young trio, all of whom were first-round picks and none of whom is older than 24, will provide more pressure. However, Armstead, Buckner and Thomas aren’t fits for the Leo position, which is reserved for the team’s top pass-rusher.
In the offseason, the 49ers addressed that spot by signing Marsh, 26, to a contract extension and signing Attaochu, 25, to a one-year deal. Marsh and Attaochu have had limited opportunities before this season, which partly explains why they’ve combined for 16 career sacks, but they’ve yet to make a splash this summer.
On Wednesday, when asked for his assessment of their training-camp performance, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said Marsh and Attaochu weren’t taking advantage of individual matchups.
“There’s a lot of work to do,” Saleh said. “The main thing we talk about is when you get a one-on-one, you’ve got to win. You’ve got to win. That’s what football is. You’ve got scheme, you’ve got all the rules, fundamentals. You’ve got everything. But what it still comes down to is winning your one-on-one battles and taking it personal that you got singled up.”
As Lynch has learned, established pass-rushers who can dominate one-on-one matchups rarely reach the free-agent market. Last year, in his first weeks on the job, Lynch began studying sack masters such as Melvin Ingram and Jason Pierre-Paul, who were subsequently retained by their teams with the franchise tag. Last year’s top two sacks leaders — Arizona’s Chandler Jones and Dallas’ DeMarcus Lawrence — have been franchised since Lynch was hired.
“We spent a lot of time (last year), and it’s franchise, franchise, franchise,” Lynch said. “It’s like ‘God dang, that sucks. We don’t even get a chance.’ That’s when the realization hit me that they don’t come along that often. Things just haven’t stacked up right.”
The 49ers didn’t select a passrusher in a draft that was viewed as weak at the position. And their two-sack summer has prompted questions about re-signing Elvis Dumervil, who had a team-high 6.5 in an offthe-bench role last year. Dumervil, 34, who ranks third among active players in career sacks (105.5), remains a free agent.
In March, when the 49ers didn’t pick up the option on the second year of Dumervil’s contract, Lynch said the team “would never close the door on a potential return.” Five months later, however, there are no plans to sign Dumervil.
“I think we’re happy with our group (of pass-rushers) right now,” Lynch said. “We want more out of them, we always will, but we never close the door on anything like that.”
The 49ers appear poised to take a committee approach to pressuring quarterbacks.
“I’m excited to see this group collectively come together,” Lynch said. “I think we can affect the quarterback, but we’re always going to strive to find that one guy where you just know. Would I love to have Warren Sapp on this team in his heyday? Yeah, because I know what it can do for everybody.”
Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch