San Francisco 49ers — How Will the Pass Rush Fare in 2018?

While the overwhelming majority of focus for the Niners will be on Garoppolo and head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense, San Francisco’s biggest concern lies on the defensive side of the ball.

Namely the pass rush.

True, the 49ers boast one of the better interior rushers in the NFL, third-year defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who was ranked by Pro Football Focus the No. 6 overall interior defender in 2018. But what the 49ers are mostly lacking on this side of the ball is an elite-level edge rusher.

Thanks to a relatively weak free agency and NFL Draft class, 49ers general manager John Lynch tabled this need for another time. Instead, he and the Niners will look to give outside rushers Cassius Marsh and Jeremiah Attaochu the primary pass-rushing duties. While reports from San Francisco’s training camp suggest both have looked solid in this role so far, one needs to note both have a combined 16 sacks over the past four years.

San Francisco finished with a mere 30 sacks last season — tied for 26th in the NFL and worst in the NFC West. So if you subscribe to the notion the second most important position on the football field is a quality pass-rusher, the Niners defense could be in for some trouble this upcoming season.

And it’s likely they’ll need to use yet another first-round draft pick to address a need along the defensive line.