49ers could have eye on these edge rushers at NFL combine

The 49ers need an edge rusher. Have needed one since they cut Aldon Smith after his third DUI arrest in 2015.

But they haven't made a serious effort to draft one. Three years in a row, they spent a first-round pick on an interior rusher instead. In 2015, the 49ers took defensive tackle Arik Armstead. In 2016, they took defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. And in 2017, they took defensive tackle Solomon Thomas.

General manager John Lynch has drafted only one edge rusher since joining the 49ers organization two years ago, and that was Pita Taumoepenu, a sixth-round pick in 2017 who has appeared in just six games and recorded zero sacks.

Lynch must know he can't keep ignoring such an important position. This is the year he will make a major investment in an outside pass rusher. And he likely will invest in one with his first-round pick, the second pick in the draft.

This is the first installment of a four-part series breaking down the prospects Lynch may watch most carefully at the upcoming NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, which starts Tuesday. The first installment focuses on edge rushers.

Josh Allen, Kentucky

The most athletic and productive outside rusher in this year's draft. Allen recorded 17 sacks and 21½ tackles for loss in 13 games as a senior in 2018. He led the Southeastern Conference in both statistics despite dropping into coverage 40 percent of the time as an outside linebacker.

Allen makes football look easy. He's 6-foot-5, 260 pounds and he's fast. A physical freak who can run right around offensive tackles. He's similar to “the Freak,” Jevon Kearse, who was the 1999 Defensive Rookie of the Year for the Tennessee Titans.

Kearse ran a 4.58 40-yard dash and jumped 37 inches vertically at the combine in 1999. If Allen matches or beats those numbers, the 49ers may not have an opportunity to draft him, because the Arizona Cardinals could take him with the first pick.

Nick Bosa, Ohio State

Not as athletic or productive as Allen. During Bosa's best season - 2017 - he recorded “only” 8½ sacks and 16 tackles for loss in 14 games.

Bosa takes longer to reach the quarterback than Allen, but Bosa is the more polished pass rusher. He has more advanced moves and counters, plus he's a better run defender than Allen.

Both players are elite talents who will be top-five picks. The main difference between them lies in their injury histories. Allen never missed a game in college. Bosa missed 11 games in 2018 with a season-ending groin injury. And he suffered a season-ending ACL tear his senior year of high school.

Bosa's older brother is Joey Bosa, the defensive end for the Los Angeles Chargers, who also has had injury issues. Joey was the third pick of the 2016 draft, and has missed four games with a hamstring injury and nine games with a foot sprain since entering the league.

Lynch must look closely at Nick Bosa's medical examinations at the combine and determine if he's an injury-prone player, someone the 49ers should avoid with the No. 2 pick.

Montez Sweat, Mississippi State

A tall, skinny edge rusher who hasn't yet filled out his body. Sweat is 6-foot-6 and 252 pounds - he likely will add weight and strength as he refines his game in the NFL. Sweat may take a year to become a dominant pass rusher.

His best attribute is his wingspan. Sweat has longer arms than Aldon Smith, who has extremely long arms. Sweat's arms measure 35? inches, meaning he reaches most offensive tackles before they reach him. A tremendous advantage for an edge rusher, because he functions as a hand-to-hand fighter.

Sweat played for 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh at the Senior Bowl this past January when the 49ers coached the South team. Sweat was dominant, according to NFL.com's Lance Zierlein.

“Sweat annihilated everyone he matched up against,” Zierlein wrote. “He's going to end up being picked in the top 10.”

Sweat probably isn't talented enough to be the second pick in Round 1. But the 49ers could take him if they trade down a few spots.

Jachai Polite, Florida

The smallest of the top edge rushers who will attend the combine, and perhaps the fastest. Polite is 6-foot-2, 242 pounds - roughly the same size as former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis, who was not an edge rusher. He was an inside linebacker.

Polite played defensive end at Florida. He recorded 11 sacks and 19 tackles for loss in 13 games during his breakout junior season of 2018. He has the speed and explosiveness Lynch and Saleh want in edge rushers.

Polite's main drawback is his relative weakness as a run defender. In the NFL, he may be merely a very good designated pass rusher, and not a starter. But designated pass rushers are valuable, because the NFL is a quarterback-driven league. Polite probably won't last beyond the 15th pick.

Clelin Ferrell, Clemson

A big, powerful, straight-ahead edge rusher who also defends the run well.

Ferrell is 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds. In 2018, he recorded 11½ sacks and 20 tackles for loss in 15 games. Terrific numbers. He bullied college offensive tackles, often ran right through them.

Ferrell won't run through NFL offensive tackles - they're too big, too athletic, too good. Ferrell has to change his technique. He has a bad habit of rushing directly into blockers, rather than working the inside or outside edge of a man. Solomon Thomas has the same habit, and that's why NFL offensive linemen engulf him.

Ferrell is bigger than Thomas, and has longer arms. Meaning Ferrell won't get engulfed in the NFL, and should be an effective edge rusher, even if he isn't great. He may be available at the end of Round 1, or the beginning of Round 2 when the 49ers make their second pick.

Tomorrow: Part 2 of this series, focusing on offensive linemen.