2015 NFL Draft: Quarter grades for 1st-round picks

A-. <p>The San Francisco 49ers lost Justin Smith among a host of others on their defensive front-seven. So they took 6’7″, 290-pound Arik Armstead at No. 17 overall to rebuild their defensive front-7. He’s actually just as talented as Williams, the Jets’ No. 6 overall, but not as advanced as he was a college basketball player at first.</p> <p>So the 49ers were correct to bring him along slowly as opposed to throwing him into the fire right away. He’s starting to see the field a lot more these days and he’s doing something with his opportunities. He got after the quarterback hard when the 49ers put him on the field against the Arizona Cardinals.</p> <p>What I saw made me believe he’s going to start getting a lot more playing time and that he’ll eventually start this year. You can tell the 49ers are following through on the plan they’ve had a for him since the drafted him. And what they’re doing it just the way to bring along a player with such immense talent while still raw.</p>. DE. San Francisco 49ers. ARIK ARMSTEAD