Most improved position groups in the NFL heading into the 2019 season

#6 49ers defensive line

You could argue that nobody will have a group making a bigger leap heading in 2019 then that 49ers defensive front. Before the draft started, they made a big trade for Kansas City outside linebacker Dee Ford, who is coming off a career year with 13 sacks and will give the Red-and-Gold a true speed-rushing threat off the edge. However, they did not settle for that and got one of the consensus top two draft prospects in Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa.

The younger brother of the Chargers’ Joey has pretty much the exact same skill-set as his brother and is a little more athletically gifted in my opinion. However, it is not just about adding those two guys to the room, it is also the way they allow everybody else to line up in different places. DeForest Buckner has become a superstar on the interior for the Niners, but those other guys played a lot out of position.

Solomon Thomas can be an excellent base D-end on early downs, but he has always been better lining up over guards on third down. Arik Armstead has not really paid off for San Fran either coming out of Oregon, but at 6’7” and nearly 300 pounds he was flexed out to the edge too much as well out of necessity, which didn’t work out for him personally.

All of a sudden, a defense that ranked in the bottom ten among sacks with 37 of them and really struggled to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks for large stretches, could field one of the more dangerous pass rush units in the league. They also added linebacker Kwon Alexander to line up right in the middle of that defense and hold things together.