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49ers have big need to supplement their edge rushers

SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 1: DeForest Buckner #99 and Ahmad Brooks #55 of the San Francisco 49ers tackle Thomas Rawls #34 of the Seattle Seahawks during the game at Levi Stadium on January 1, 2017 in Santa Clara, California. The Seahawks defeated the 49ers 25-23. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)

  • San Francisco finished 27th in PFF’s pass-rush grades in 2016.
  • With a pair of promising, young interior pass-rushers in DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead, most of that deficiency has fallen on the 49ers’ edge defenders.
  • Among the 140 edge defenders with at least 75 pass-rush snaps in 2016, none of the four qualifying 49ers – Ahmad Brooks, Eli Harold, Aaron Lynch, and Cornellius Carradine – ranked higher than 76th in pass-rush grade.
  • New general manager John Lynch should have numerous opportunities to address this problem in the 2017 NFL Draft, with a whopping 20 edge defenders in the top 100 on the PFF Big Board.

49ers edge rushers

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