The 49ers hope that Buckner will bookend a defensive line with former Oregon teammate Arik Armstead, last year's first-round selection. The 49ers defense managed just 28 sacks last season, ranking 29th in the league. Buckner was one of two defensive lineman selected during the three days of the draft. The other was DE Ronald Blair out of Appalachian State.
Buckner was recruited to Oregon by new 49ers head coach Chip Kelly, who takes over a team that went just 5-11 last season.
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Buckner and the 49ers' other rookies concluded a minicamp over the weekend, where he chose 99 as his jersey number. The team will next be on the field together from May 17 through 19 for organized team activities.
Pro Football Focus was admittedly obsessed with Buckner and below are some other interesting statistics that they pointed out within their scouting report, where they called him an "ideal 3-4 end."
- No. 1 overall grade among interior defensive linemen
- Top pass rushing grade
- Eighth-highest grade against the run
- Led all interior defensive linemen with 951 snaps
- Had two games where he played over 100 snaps in each
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