There has been a lot of discussion about San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle DeForest Buckner benefitting from the additions of pass rushers Nick Bosa and Dee Ford. But what about the opposite being true?
On Monday morning, Peter Schrager of "Good Morning Football" named cornerback Richard Sherman as one of the most underrated players in the NFL. Analyst Daniel Jeremiah identified Buckner as one of his most underrated players.
"I believe the 49ers got the best player in the draft in Nick Bosa," Jeremiah said during the "Move the Sticks" podcast. "What he's going to benefit from is playing next to DeForest Buckner because Buckner can do so many things. You can rush him off the edge. You can do all the speed, power stuff off the edge. He can slide inside, rush over a guard, do anything you want to do there.
"12 sacks last year, and I felt like it kind of went under the radar. Nobody really talked about this guy. He's freakish in terms of his athleticism, his size. Think about Calais Campbell and what he was in his prime. That's where DeForest Buckner is right now."
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Buckner is coming off of his third NFL season where he recorded, as Jeremiah mentioned, a career-high 12 sacks to go along with his 67 combined tackles and three passes defensed.
San Francisco picked up Buckner's fifth-year option this offseason with hopes of working out an extension. While the two sides are reportedly far apart in negotiations, general manager John Lynch believes a deal will get done.
"I would love nothing more than for DeFo to be here," Lynch said before the draft. "We've got a long time to work on that. He's very important to us, and he's another guy who's a big part of what we're doing. I just love everything about him, and the way he goes about his business. I think he's a special player, and we'd like to keep him here for a long time."