The 49ers D-Line is Deeper than Ever

What sets the 49ers 2023 defensive line apart is its depth.

Grant Cohn | Dec 12, 2023

Arik Armstead and Javon Hargrave both will likely miss the 49ers' upcoming game against Arizona, and their absences will make the 49ers defensive line much thinner than usual.

But the 49ers shouldn't need Armstead and Hargrave to beat the Cardinals. So this Sunday will be a great opportunity for the 49ers' backup defensive linemen to shine and get the recognition they deserve.

The 49ers defensive line is deeper than ever this season. We know the four starters -- Armstead, Hargrave, Nick Bosa and Chase Young. They're all fantastic. But the 49ers have had phenomenal starting defensive lines in the past. When they went to the Super Bowl in 2019, they had Bosa, Armstead, DeForest Buckner and Dee Ford. Doesn't get much better than that quartet.

But what sets the 49ers 2023 defensive line apart is its depth. After Bosa, Armstead, Hargrave and Young, the 49ers have another quartet could start for lots of teams -- Randy Gregory, Javon Kinlaw, Kevin Givens and Clelin Ferrell.

Gregory had a sack this past Sunday against the Seahawks. Kinlaw has had 2.5 sacks in the 49ers' past two games. And Ferrell has had 2.5 sacks in the 49ers' past five games. And these guys are coming off the bench. They're producing big numbers without getting much playing time, which is extremely impressive.

Now the 49ers will need Kinlaw and Givens to start and play lots of snaps against the Cardinals so Armstead and Hargrave can get healthy and be ready to play against the Ravens on Christmas.

Look for the 49ers' backup defensive linemen to make a big impact against Arizona.

Published Dec 12, 2023

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.