USAT: Niners Wire audio clip

USAT: Niners Wire

Mar 12, 2022

Samson Ebukam’s move to a 4-3 defensive end after four years with the Rams as a 3-4 outside linebacker didn’t get off to a great start with the 49ers. His finish to the 2021 campaign provides a ton of optimism that he could wind up playing a vital role on the 49ers’ defensive line next season. - Ebukam’s four years with Los Angeles weren’t extremely productive, but the expectations for him in his new role were relatively high. He put up 14.0 sacks with the Rams and San Francisco was hopeful they’d get more out of him after signing him to a two-year, $12 million deal with $5 million guaranteed last offseason. - It turns out the position change took a little bit of an adjustment and he got out to a slow start with the 49ers. Through 10 games he had only 11 pressures and 1.0 sacks according to Pro Football Focus. Five of those pressures came in Week 8 in Chicago. With half the season down, Ebukam was on track to actually fall short of his best years in LA. - Then his playing time became more consistent and a switch flipped. Ebukam shined over the team’s final seven regular season games and three playoff contests. In those last 10 games he had at least one pressure in each contest as his total skyrocketed to 34 for the second half of the year. He also notched 8.0 sacks in the last 10 including one in each postseason game. - Ebukam is good, and it showed over the final 10 games. That’s a long enough sample size of consistently strong play to be optimistic he can carry that over into the 2022 campaign. If Ebukam picks up where he left off and puts together a year with 60-plus pressures and double-digit sacks, the 49ers have a chance to once again be the NFL’s most disruptive pass rush. - - List - - 6 edge rushers 49ers could target in free agency - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Niners Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Niners Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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