The 49ers are adding more depth to their defensive line via free agency with three weeks left before the NFL draft. NBC Sports Bay Area’s Jennifer Lee Chan on Thursday reported free agent defensive end Ronald Blair was set to rejoin San Francisco.
Blair missed all of the 2020 season because of a setback in his rehab from an ACL tear he suffered in Week 10 of the 2019 campaign. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said something went wrong during the surgery and forced Blair to sit out the season.
The 49ers drafted Blair in the fifth round of the 2016 draft, and he carved out a nice role as a rotational defensive end during his tenure with the club. He had 13.5 sacks in 47 games his first two seasons, and now he enters a defensive line room that desperately needs help on the edges. Blair played a career-high 50 percent of the 49ers’ defensive snaps in 2018, but his other three years he’s been around the 20-to-25 percent mark. If he can get back to that range and produce, he’ll be a nice addition for San Francisco.
