© Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
SANTA CLARA — The talent dispersion among the 49ers 2017 defensive line was so heavily tilted in DeForest Buckner’s direction that he regularly faced double-teams by season’s end. The 49ers coaching staff has spent training camp mulling the best ways to prevent that in 2018.
“The challenge for us is how to get Buck one-on-ones as many times as possible,” defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said after Monday’s practice. “Testing him out there at that end spot to see what he looks like. I mean, he’s unbelievable. He is a special talent.”
The idea of periodically moving Buckner, who led all interior defensive linemen with 19 quarterback hits in 2017, to the edge arose in a recent meeting during training camp. Buckner remembers it simply.
“Hey Buck, you’re going to be at the end position in this package,” an unspecified 49ers coach said.
“All right,” Buckner replied, “sounds good.”
And with that, Buckner became San Francisco’s conspicuous pawn, whose talent will be used liberally and widely in the upcoming season.
The 49ers have tried Buckner on the edge in recent practices. He took reps there against six-time All-Pro tackle Joe Staley during Sunday’s session, and he came away impressed, like you’d expect.
“He was just saying with how big and strong (I am), he has to set a certain way,” Buckner said.
San Francisco’s master plan for Buckner is similar to how the Jacksonville Jaguars deployed defensive lineman Calais Campbell in 2017. Buckner said he has watched film of Campbell both on the inside and outside, particularly admiring how he closes gaps between him and the tackle.
Buckner is 6-foot-7, 300 pounds. Campbell is 6-foot-8, 300 pounds. Both the 49ers and and Jaguars employ similar 4-3, Cover-3 schemes.
Campbell played every position among Jacksonville’s line last year. The 31-year-old produced his best career season, finishing with 14.5 sacks, the second-most in the league, and earned his first first-team All-Pro nod. A massive trickle-down effect ensued, with the Jacksonville secondary morphing into arguably the league’s top unit. And the Jaguars, once the league’s laughingstock, ended the season just four points away from a Super Bowl birth.
“It worked out pretty well for them,” Buckner joked.
Buckner played some edge during his rookie season in 2016, posting six sacks in a 3-4 scheme. He logged the most snaps of any interior defensive lineman in the NFL.
One year later, Buckner transitioned to a 4-3 defense under Saleh. The new coaching staff lessened the defensive tackle’s massive workload, hoping a fresher Buckner meant a better Buckner. It worked. His 53 pressures were the fifth-most at his position, but he recorded just three sacks.
“I’ll back up the three sacks with the fact that he was in the quarterback’s face probably the second-most of all defensive tackles,” Saleh said in Buckner’s defense. “So, he gets consistent pressure in the backfield.”
He feels he left some sacks on the field last year. He has worked tirelessly this offseason — pass rush specialist Chris Kiffin encountered him training by himself at the Santa Clara facilities back in February— and throughout training camp to increase that total. He said he has a sack number in mind but would not disclose it.
The lack of pass rush was not a singular issue. The 49ers compiled just 30 sacks in 2017, and leading sacker Elvis Dumervil was not re-signed this offseason. Instead, the 49ers re-signed Cassius Marsh to a two-year deal, former Charger Jeremiah Attaochu signed a one-year deal, and the team picked up Arik Armstead’s fifth-year option in 2019.
Buckner’s inside presence will consistently give the platoon of weak-side edge rushers, which includes Eli Harold, one-on-one matchups. If they are unable to cash in, however, moving to Buckner to the outside would be a way to combat that potential weakness, while Solomon Thomas could play at his more natural position on the inside.
“It’s a confidence-booster that (the coaching staff) can see I am able to rush on the edge,” Buckner said.