First-round draft pick DeForest Buckner was one of the few bright spots for the 49ers last year, posting six sacks, a good number for an interior defender, during his rookie season.
At 6-foot-7, 300 pounds, Buckner is a physical specimen that the 49ers hope will be a terror defending both the run and the pass if he’s able to put it all together, and are expecting him to make a leap during the 2017 season. One of those also expecting Buckner to make a leap is Seahawks Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Bennett, who has been working out with Buckner in Hawaii this offseason.
Bennett has been so impressed by Buckner this summer, he went so far as to say he thinks the youngster will one day be a defensive player of the year.
“I think DeForest, I’m lucky to be working with a guy like that.” Bennett said, via KHON. “I think DeForest will eventually be a defensive player of the year. I think he has the talent to be able to do that. I keep telling him there’s nobody like him. He’s not normal. His physique, his speed, it’s not normal so when you’re not normal you can do not normal things and winning the defensive MVP is not normal for most people.”
That’s high praise coming from one of the most versatile defensive ends in the NFL, and Buckner is taking those words to heart.
“That’s what gives me a lot of confidence,” Buckner said. “Having a guy like him saying that I could be a potential MVP of the league one year? I mean, that means a lot. It makes me want to grind harder.
“Just because it’s the holiday, I mean that doesn’t mean we can take the day off. We’re all out here trying to get better and Mike is out here working too. We just gotta learn from the great ones and he’s an All-Pro, he’s a Super Bowl champ, and he’s out here working on the holiday, so we gotta be out here too trying to hone our craft.”