The 49ers are entering a brand new season under head coach Chip Kelly, and it will be a year where a number of young players look to make a name for themselves in the NFL.
Ten-year left tackle Joe Staley offered a veteran's perspective on a budding defensive line he faces regularly in practice.
"The D-line is doing good," Staley told reporters Wednesday at Kezar Stadium practice. "(Arik) Armstead is having a really good camp. And DeFo (Buckner), just been going against him the past two, three days. Really strong, powerful guy."
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The 49ers in the last two drafts selected Oregon defensive linemen Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner, at Nos. 17 and 7 overall, respectively.
But Staley, a five-time Pro Bowler, also made a point to mention the depth.
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"And don't forget about Ronald Blair. He's a good player up front. He's a good player," Staley noted. "So the D-line is coming together, we got a lot of good pieces."
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The unit this offseason already lost nose tackle Ian Williams for the year, and now expect to see fourth-year lineman Quinton Dial fill the spot.
"I don't go against him at (nose tackle)," Staley said. "(But) I can tell you he's doing good at end. I go against him at end."
Dial on Wednesday told CSNBayArea.com he's been getting more valuable reps this year as opposed to past training camps.
"I played nose in this system before," Dial said. "It ain't nothing but a thing to me. It's just always getting a feel for it again, and getting my feet wet with it. But it's only been a few days, so we'll see how it goes."
Dial has started 21 of 32 games he's appeared in since being selected in the fifth round out of Alabama in 2013. The 6-foot-5, 318-pound defender has 90 tackles over three seasons.
Armstead (22), Buckner (22), Blair (23) and Dial (26) make up a young corps, with Glenn Dorsey (31) as the only player with over five years of NFL experience.