The biggest Sacramento area news in the 2015 NHL Draft came around 7 p.m., when the 49ers took Pleasant Grove High School and Oregon star Arik Armstead in the 17th pick. Nearly an hour later, the Carolina Panthers took Shaq Thompson, the Grant High School star who played at Washington.
Armstead is a huge man with excellent movement skills ideally suited for the so-called five-technique — what the 49ers call defensive end — in a 3-4 defense. The 49ers lost one long-time starter at the position, Ray McDonald, late last season and could lose another if Justin Smith decides to retire. The hope is that Armstead will be able to pair with another physical marvel, Aldon Smith, to create the same sort of potent one-two combination, Aldon and Justin Smith formed. Armstead is a former basketball player who was on both the basketball and football teams early at Oregon before deciding to concentrate fully on football this year.
The adjectives used to describe Armstead are “raw” and “still-learning” and “improving.” All of them point to someone who will be a bit of a project. Armstead had four sacks in three seasons at Oregon. The issue for the 49ers is that they took two promising defensive linemen two years ago in Tank Carradine and Quinton Dial and neither of them have received much action yet. The team also has three other youngsters in Tony Jerod-Eddie, Lawrence Okoye and Kaleb Ramsey. That suggests Armstead either will have a hard time seeing the field or he will bump another young player the team has invested in further down the lineup.
The 49ers originally had the 15th pick in the draft. They traded back two slots with the Chargers to take Armstead at No. 17. They added San Diego’s fourth-round pick, No. 117 overall, and a 5th-round pick in 2016.
The 49ers now have 10 picks in the current draft: 1st (17), 2nd (46), 3rd (79), 4th (117, 126, 132), 5th (151), 6th (190), 7th (246, 254).
