The folks at Pro Football Focus put together a rundown of grades for 2015 first round picks, and San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Arik Armstead came out looking pretty good. PFF graded him second only to New York Jets defensive tackle Leonard Williams. Armstead also ranked No. 25 among all interior defensive linemen.
Armstead finished first in PFF's pass-rushing productivity stat among 3-4 defensive ends with 155 or more pass rushing snaps. He played a fairly limited amount of snaps compared to other defensive linemen, but he was productive in his time on the field. Leonard Williams finished with nearly double Armstead's grade, but he also played over double the amount of snaps Armstead played. PFF's grading is cumulative. That means that the positive is Armstead could have matched Williams with more snaps. On the other hand, if he did not play as efficiently in those snaps, then maybe his numbers come down a bit.
Whatever the case, it was a solid rookie year for the 49ers first round pick. The next step is getting more snaps. It is safe to say that will be happening in 2016. Even if the 49ers draft DeForest Buckner, or any other defensive lineman, Armstead and the rest of the line will be plenty busy with more snaps due to Chip Kelly's high-paced offense. My guess is Armstead moves into the starting lineup, but that does not preclude the 49ers from adding more impact talent along the line.