DeForest Buckner got a chance closer to the edge, and was impressive

The San Francisco 49ers have questions in the pass rush, but they have a lot of bodies to throw at it. Two big questions are who will emerge at the edge rusher positions, and how will they find time for Solomon Thomas, Arik Armstead (assuming he gets healthy), and Sheldon Day with DeForest Buckner likely on the field most snaps.

Maybe they have a creative solution to the issue. On Sunday, he was working closer to the edge of the line, competing against Joe Staley in pass rush drills. I can’t tell from this angle, but it looks like at least a little bit of a change from where he might normally play. Of course, given his level of talent, it makes sense to mix and match him wherever you can.

Grant Cohn got some video of Buckner vs. Staley on Sunday, while Dylan DeSimone grabbed some video of Buckner vs. Laken Tomlinson from the 49ers live stream on Monday. Buckner does some great work in the first video. It shows him getting physical on the edge to get around Staley in the first attempt. On the second one, he seems to put a move on Staley and cuts inside to get to the QB. In re-watching the second attempt, I’m trying to figure out if Staley was simply kicking Buckner to the left guard, or if he was beaten that badly. What do people think?

On the latter video, we see Tomlinson get physical with Buckner and prevent him from getting leverage. I’d say holding should be called, but both players do have fistfuls of jersey, so maybe it would just be no flag.

DeForest Buckner vs. Joe Staley

DeForest Buckner vs. Laken Tomlinson