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The San Francisco 49ers introduced Arik Armstead to the media with a conference call Thursday evening. He will come down to Santa Clara for a formal press conference on Friday, but in the meantime, he had a chance to call in and talk about his situation. The 49ers will likely provide a transcript of the call, but in the meantime, here are a few of his early comments:
Arik Armstead, new #49ers DE: "We ran similar scheme at Oregon. My skillset to be in a 3-4 is perfect." Said he is not a "raw" project
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) May 1, 2015
#49ers 1st-round pick @arikarmstead: "I think my skill set fits perfectly in their 3-4 defense. I'm excited to get there and learn."
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) May 1, 2015
#49ers 1st-round pick @arikarmstead: "I'm going in there open-minded, looking to work hard and be coached."
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) May 1, 2015
Arik Armstead said when he visited 49ers he didn’t really talk about football with Jim Tomsula. The coach tried to get to know the person.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoCSN) May 1, 2015
Arik Armstead said he talked more about music than football with #49ers head coach Jim Tomsula. Armstead met with the 49ers three times
— Kevin Lynch (@klynch49) May 1, 2015
Arik Armstead said he played through an ankle injury last season. Said his role was to be disruptive rather than rack up sacks. #49ers
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) May 1, 2015
Arik Armstead, who might have donned 187 different fluorescent uniforms at Oregon, termed the #49ers black unis "sick."
— Eric Branch (@Eric_Branch) May 1, 2015
One of the negatives listed in most scouting reports has been that he is a raw prospect. I'm not surprised he would disagree with that description. Of course, now he actually has to prove that he can make an impact.
The 49ers will welcome their rookies to town in a couple weeks for their rookie minicamp, and then they join the offseason workout program. Armstead has a lot of work ahead of him. He is saying the right things for now, but we'll see what the coming days, weeks, months and years bring. He will get a lot of opportunities, particularly if Justin Smith retires. The question now is if and how he takes advantage of his opportunities.