SANTA CLARA -– The 49ers did not make their first-round selection on Thursday night with the expectation of their pick becoming an overnight sensation.
With a group of defensive linemen coach Jim Tomsula believes is the deepest unit he has seen in his eight years with the organization, the 49ers can be patient with defensive end Arik Armstead.
“Where we’re strong, we’re just getting stronger, in my belief,” Tomsula said.
Armstead is 6 foot 7, 292 pounds. He stopped playing basketball last year to concentrate on his football career at the University of Oregon. After playing his junior season, he declared early for the NFL draft.
“We’re not in a situation where Arik has to come in and plug,” Tomsula said. “So this is a place we can bring a guy in that hasn’t had those years in a weight room, that was playing basketball, and who’s still young in what he’s doing.
“Traditionally here, when you come in, it takes some training. We have that in that room. It’s not the stress of a guy coming in and having to fill a hole.”
Said 49ers general manager Trent Baalke, “There's going to be some development to this process, but we're well aware of that.”
The 49ers envision Armstead playing the 4-technique, a position that lines up straight across from the opposition’s offensive tackle. Baalke said the 49ers typically have four or five players on their entire draft board who are fits at the 4-technique. Armstead is unique because of his size and athleticism.
[MAIOCCO: Armstead: 'I think my skill set in the 3-4 is perfect']
"They’re hard to find," Baalke said. "You talk to people in this league and do what we do in the evaluation process, you need those guys to play the type of defense we play. Without them, you can’t play this defense. He is a young a man that we identified that has the traits, has the skill sets, the want-to, to play it the way we want to play it."
Armstead recorded just four sacks during his three seasons of college football. He was plagued by a high-ankle sprain early in his final season, and Baalke raved that Armstead’s best two games were his final two games. Armstead recorded nine tackles in the championship game against Ohio State.
Despite his height, Tomsula said Armstead has the ability to stay low and gain leverage.
"When you do watch the tape, his hips are down and he does get push in the pocket in a nickel defense," Tomsula said. "Now, is it consistent as you want right now? No. It’s not. But you see it. You’ve got enough reps of seeing it that he can do that. With the weight room, that just makes it better.
“You talk about the (ability to) bend, you talk about the athleticism, you’ve seen enough plays that he’s got some power and push and explosion. When you look at his body, it’s all there. Now you meet the guy and it’s intriguing, it’s a nice guy, a good guy. And he’s a competitive guy. But he’s inconsistent and young and we’ve got to grow it up, and he’s got to grow it up. It’s us working together in the development of football.”
The selection of Armstead appears to be another indication the 49ers do not expect veteran defensive lineman Justin Smith to return for a 15th NFL season. But Baalke said the 49ers merely took the best player on their board at the time they made the selection.
“We gave Justin liberty to make his own decision on his time frame,” Baalke said. “So we went into the draft not thinking about what decision Justin’s going to make or not going to make. We just went in to find the best football player, the best system fit we could at pick 15. It just so happened we traded back and it's pick 17.”
The trade back of two spots enabled the 49ers to pick up a third pick in the fourth round (No. 117 overall) from the San Diego Chargers, as well as a fifth-round selection in the 2016 draft.
The 49ers have two scheduled picks on Friday: No. 14 in the second round (46 overall) and No. 15 in the third round (79 overall).
