New 49ers DC Sorensen details D-line competition this summer
New 49ers DC Sorensen details D-line competition this summer originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The 49ers' defensive line is anchored by Nick Bosa setting the edge and Javon Hargrave on the interior, but there will be quite a few new faces when the group lines up for the 2024 NFL season.
The most notable change in the team's trenches is the departure of Arik Armstead, who spent nine seasons in the Bay Area before signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars for a much more lucrative deal than the 49ers were willing to pay.
Other departures include Javon Kinlaw (New York Jets), Clelin Ferrell (Washington Commanders), Chase Young (New Orleans Saints), and Randy Gregory (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
New defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen is excited about the free agents the 49ers signed to multi-year deals on the defensive line and believes that the unit's production will only improve.
“We were fortunate to have a lot of these guys like Arik for a long time,” Sorensen said Friday. “[He] did a lot of great things for us, but we did replace him and J.K. and some of the guys we had last year with some guys that we are really excited about.”
Defensive line coach Kris Kocurek will be looking to improve the production of his group, which contributed to 48 quarterback sacks and 122 hits in 2024. While most of the defensive metrics were toward the top of the league, there is much room for improvement and the group hopes to return to the dominance they showed during the 2019 season.
“It’s not like last year when we had guys that were one year and gone,” Sorensen said. “It’s someone that can get in with our system with Kocurek and really be aggressive and attack as far as changing things we are going to be aggressive and do what we do and being an attacking defense.”
Here is the 49ers' current defensive line roster:
Returning:
Nick Bosa
Javon Hargrave
Robert Beal
Free Agents:
Earnest Brown
Undrafted free agent:
Evan Anderson
The production of Bosa and Hargrave speaks for itself, and the pair remains the stars of the defensive line, but who steps up in the coming season is yet to be determined. The 49ers signed seven linemen during free agency with the primary goal of getting after the quarterback.
Leonard Floyd signed a two-year, $20 million contract to play opposite of Bosa after spending four seasons with the Chicago Bears who drafted the Georgia edge rusher with the No. 9 overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft.
The veteran pass rusher spent the next three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams before signing a one-year agreement with the Buffalo Bills for the 2023 season. Floyd has been consistent over his last four years with an average of 10 sacks per season, not to mention incredible durability on the field with well over 900 total snaps in each season from 2019-2022.
Yetur Gross-Matos joins the 49ers after signing a two-year $18 million deal after playing four seasons with the Carolina Panthers. The second-round pick (No. 38) had his best statistical season in 2023 with a career-high five sacks, five hits and nine hurries.
Gross-Matos is set to be seen on the edge rotationally with Floyd, and if Bosa needs a break. The Penn State product was on the field for 465 snaps in 2023 after recording 847 plays in 2022.
On the interior of the line, Hargrave will be joined by Jordan Elliott and Maliek Collins. Like Floyd and Gross-Matos, Collins is coming off a career-best season with the Houston Texans, recording seven sacks, 13 hits and 28 hurries according to PFF.com.
Collins spent his first four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys after being drafted in the third round (No. 67) of the 2016 draft and then joined the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020.
“Floyd and Maliek on the inside and getting Jordan Elliott as well,” Sorensen said. “Yetur Gross-Matos, we’ve got some young guys mixed in with veteran guys that have really performed and we are excited about, also that we have them for a couple of years.”
The 49ers also saw enough from Evan Anderson to offer guaranteed money to the defensive tackle as an undrafted free agent. The Florida Atlantic product closed out four seasons with a career-best 18 total pressures that included five sacks, one hit and 12 hurries.
Anderson will learn along with the remainder of the defensive line group that will be competing for time on the field throughout training camp. Sorensen sees that as a great aspect of his inaugural season as a coordinator where there will not be sweeping changes in the scheme.
“We are always looking to evolve in certain ways,” Sorensen said. “I think there’s things throughout the league that you see and it’s like will it work, will it not? But as far as what we do, our bread and butter, we are going to do that.”
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