The focus will be on Chip Kelly’s offense this year for the 49ers, and understandably so. San Francisco’s head coach comes to the franchise with a reputation for running a dynamic, fast-paced, wide-open attack.
But the new 49ers head coach may also have a young, dynamic defensive line to showcase in 2016. Defensive ends Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner are the core of that line, but the 49ers also will feature a rookie from Appalachian State who’s been making a positive impression with coaches since the day the team drafted him in the fifth round.
Ronald Blair, a 6-foot-2, 284-pounder, has been getting snaps in training camp and exhibition games at nose tackle, defensive end and outside linebacker. Defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil used Blair with the first-unit defense in the 49ers’ exhibition game vs. the Broncos this past Saturday night in multiple roles. Blair played 51 snaps Saturday and was outstanding, O’Neil said.
O’Neil said Blair had only one tackle, but was a force nonetheless.
“Everywhere we put him he makes plays,” O’Neil told a writer for the 49ers website. “He was able to make three or four splash plays in that game, and he’s going to keep getting better with the more he plays. I feel comfortable with him at nose, at end, at outside ‘backer. He’s going to be a guy that we move around. Offenses are going to have to find him and deal with him.”
At Appalachian State in 2015, Blair was the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year after a season of 70 tackles – 19 for loss – and 7½ sacks. In college, too, his coaches used him as an all-purpose threat, moving him across the defensive front.
Veteran safety Eric Reid says Blair will make an impact as a rookie. He’s a playmaker, even though he may not be as tall or strong or as athletic as some NFL players.
Sports
“It’s the heart thing,” Reid told ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner, of Blair. “He doesn’t necessarily pass the eyeball test, but you can’t measure a man’s heart. So when he steps out on the field, he gives it his all.”
