The San Francisco 49ers defense will be looking to the defensive line as a potential cornerstone position group. Spending first round picks three straight years will boost expectations for the group, and the 49ers have built depth to have a potentially impressive rotation.
The team will look for Solomon Thomas to develop into a key cog, but in 2017, DeForest Buckner will be as important as anybody. He is coming off a rookie season in which he played more snaps than any other defensive lineman, and he was plenty productive throughout. Pro Football Focus tracks stops by defenders, which they define as, “any instance where the primary tackler prevents an offensive success.