Can the best be even better?

Buckner gone, but DL’s quest for next level remains intact

- Craig Massei

Since the last time they took the field for a meaningful game — as it turns out, the most meaningful game any football player can ever play — the 49ers traded away DeForest Buckner, the All-Pro anchor of their defense, the do-everything inside terror who developed not only into an esteemed team leader but quite possibly the best player on the entire team.

Yet, when the 49ers begin playing for keeps again this season beginning with their Sept. 13 opener against the Arizona Cardinals, they still could have the best defensive line in the NFL, a distinction San Francisco earned last year while that bruising unit carried the team to an NFC Championship and near-miss in Super Bowl LIV.

The D-line, reloaded and revitalized, produced such an encouraging performance this summer that it begs an intriguing question as that unit reaches the season after its swift climb to the head of the pack.

Could it be even better without Buckner in 2020?

How could that possibly be? Buckner’s unforeseen departure via trade to the Indianapolis Colts in March left a gaping void in San Francisco’s defensive interior, just like it would for any team that loses an impact starter who’d developed into a league-wide star.

But maybe not so much for the 49ers. “We had such an amazing year last year,” said

Arik Armstead, the versatile defensive end who turned his career year last season into a five-year, $85-million contract extension that puts Armstead among the NFL’s top-10 highest-paid players at a glamour position. “But we’re definitely looking to get better, building off the things we did last year and taking it to another level, (being) better in a lot of ways.”