San Francisco 49ers: Arik Armstead answers critics on effort

The San Francisco 49ers’ top draft pick, defensive end Arik Armstead, was the expected target of Trent Baalke’s and it’s been met with a lot of praise. However, some nagging issues with critics have been based on his effort for every single play. Armstead explained why some scouts may have had that impression.

In an interview with Eric Branch of SF Gate, Armstead acknowledged his lack of pure stats during his junior campaign at Oregon. He finished the year with 46 tackles and 2.5 sacks. It’s the only year that he started for the Ducks, and he ultimately had just four sacks in his career.

"“There are expectations — people expect me to do certain things. If they don’t see it happening – if I don’t get 15 sacks – then I’m not trying hard. I have the skill-set, so they think I should be doing that.”"

It’s an understandable criticism, yet players are way too often linked to their own stats. The general public who likes to say if players are good or bad simply like to bring stats into the equation without actually bringing up what’s happening on the field. That’s something scouts do to fill the void, but it’s easier to grab out of a chart of data instead.

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Armstead tries to bring it all into perspective for people. The numbers aren’t adding up to the accustomed expectations, but it’s due to how Oregon played defense. This isn’t just selecting a defensive lineman in a game of Madden, smashing the turbo button down, and trying to flatten the quarterback on every play. Armstead’s focus was to hold his position and prevent holes from opening up.

"“We understand our role is to hold our gaps and force a ball in a certain area.”"

Another issue was that offenses understood what Armstead brought to the table. Since the lineman just started for one season, people may question if he’s ready to handle the lofty expectations of being a first-round draft pick. Thing is, he’s already been dealing with those issues since he was just 14 years old. From Andrew Greif of The Oregonian:

"[UCLA] Defensive line coach Todd Howard offered Armstead his first scholarship at 14, even though he hadn’t played a down of varsity football. Armstead says he was surprised at how quickly the offer came, but he expected the attention, too, in part because of his list of goals."

Perhaps that could be why Armstead was met with coverage by multiple guys, trying to keep his size advantage away from making a big impact on a play. There was also an ankle injury that kept Armstead from being full strength until late in the season — and he looked impressive in the national semifinal against Florida State. Despite the injury, Armstead isn’t using that as an excuse at all.

However, some critics still pointed to a lack of effort for his overall career.

This doesn’t mean to simply throw away the negatives of huge expectations and lack of sacks for Armstead. There are concerns to keep in mind as there’s negatives about anybody that’s drafted. But expectations should lean away from just piling up sacks and more towards his strengths of stopping the run and fitting in perfectly with San Francisco’s 3-4 defense.

Considering how he’s needed to handle criticism since a very young age, he’s been very mature about them. He’s not using the naysayers to motivate himself and he’s going to continue in his belief of making the team better instead of making himself look better in a box score.

Next: 49ers signing Lance Briggs still a good idea?

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