49ers seek depth to give breaks to Smith, McDonald

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The 49ers opened last season with seven defensive linemen on their 53-man roster because they wanted to allow at least one season to develop a couple of their young players.Ricky Jean Francois was the only backup who saw significant action last season, playing a total of 26.73 percent of the 49ers' defensive snaps -- mostly at nose tackle to give starter Isaac Sopoaga a break.Justin Smith played third-most of any defensive lineman in the league at 91.12 percent of the snaps. Ray McDonald's 83.53 percent ranked 16th in the NFL.The 49ers did not add any veteran free agents nor draft picks to their group of defensive linemen. Instead, the team expects one or more of their other young defensive linemen to develop to the point where the team is not so reliant on Smith and McDonald to play every snap.Will Tukuafu, who has also been seeing time at fullback, will compete to earn a spot in the rotation, along with Demarcus Dobbs and Ian Williams. Both Dobbs and Williams were undrafted rookies a year ago.Here's a look at the playing time from the 49ers' seven defensive linemen:Justin Smith 91.12 percent
Ray McDonald 83.53 percent
Isaac Sopoaga 41.03
Ricky Jean Francois 26.73
Will Tukuafu 1.38 percent
Demarcus Dobbs 3.35 percent
Ian Williams 0.69 percentNotes: Tukuafu went on injured reserve with a wrist injury after playing in four games; Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks saw significant action as linemen in pass-rush situations, but they are listed as outside linebackers.

Following is a look the defensive linemen around the NFL who played at least 70 percent of their teams' defensive snaps in 2011:1. Jared Allen, Minnesota, 1004 of 1065 (94.27 percent)
2. Jeremy Mincey, Jacksonville, 949 of 1015 (93.5 percent)
3. Justin Smith, San Francisco, 924 of 1014 (91.12 percent)
4. Jabaal Sheard, Cleveland, 949 of 1073 (88.44 percent)
5. Darnell Dockett, Arizona, 1000 of 1142 (87.57 percent)
6. Calais Campbell, Arizona, 997 of 1142 (87.3 percent)
7. Greg Hardy, Carolina, 891 of 1023 (87.1 percent)
8. Ahtyba Rubin, Cleveland, 929 of 1073 (86.58 percent)
9. Vince Wilford, New England, 957 of 1111 (86.14 percent)
10. Chris Long, St. Louis, 920 of 1071 (85.9 percent)
11. Jason Pierre-Paul, N.Y. Giants, 940 of 1104 (85.14 percent)
12. Israel Idonije, Chicago, 915 of 1081 (84.64 percent)
13. Chris Clemons, Seattle, 929 of 1099 (84.53 percent)
14, Brian Robison, Minnesota, 899 of 1065 (84.41 percent)
15. Tyson Alualu, Jacksonville, 850 of 1015 (83.74 percent)
16. Ray McDonald, San Francisco, 847 of 1014 (83.53 percent)
17. Julius Peppers, Chicago, 887 of 1081 (82.05 percent)
18. Adrian Clayborn, Tampa Bay, 849 of 1049 (80.93 percent)
19. Evander Hood, Pittsburgh, 802 of 999 (80.28 percent)
20. B.J. Raji, Green Bay, 872 of 1097 (79.49 percent)
21, Charles Johnson, Carolina, 793 of 1023 (77.52 percent)
22. J.J. Watt, Houston, 776 of 1003 (77.37 percent)
23. Stephen Bowen, Washington 793 of 1026 (77.29 percent)
24. Haloti Ngata, Baltimore, 805 of 1042 (77.26 percent)
25. Kevin Williams, Minnesota, 821 of 1065 (77.09 percent)
26. Will Smith, New Orleans, 805 of 1061 (75.87 percent)
27. Elvis Dumervil, Denver, 836 of 1104 (75.72 percent)
28. Brett Keisel, Pittsburgh, 755 of 999 (75.58 percent)
29. Barry Cofield, Washington, 762 of 1026 (74.27 percent)
30. Richard Seymour, Oakland, 844 of 1143 (73.84 percent)
31. Tommy Kelly, Oakland, 840 of 1143 (73.49 percent)
32. Cliff Avril, Detroit, 791 of 1098 (72.04 percent)
33. Antonio Smith, Houston, 718 of 1003 (71.59 percent)
34. Dwan Edwards, Buffalo, 736 of 1035 (71.11 percent)
35. Marcell Dareus, Buffalo, 734 of 1035 (70.92 percent)
36. Jay Ratliff, Dallas, 721 of 1017 (70.89 percent)
37. Geno Atkins, Cincinnati, 731 of 1040 (70.29 percent)

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