Arik Armstead

Arik Armstead (born November 15, 1993) is an American football defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL).

Armstead played in all 13 games as a true freshman in 2012, making one start.

He finished the 2012 season with 26 tackles and a half-sack.

During the spring he joined the Ducks basketball team, where he redshirted his first year.

Armstead played in 13 games as a sophomore in 2013, recording 15 tackles and one sack.

During the spring he re-joined the basketball team.

He played in one game, before quitting to focus on football.

Armstead returned to the football team his junior season in 2014.

Following the 2014 season, he declared for the NFL Draft.

He played college football at Oregon and was drafted by the 49ers in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft.

Armstead attended Pleasant Grove High School in Elk Grove, California.

During his high school football career, he had 126 tackles and 7.5 sacks.

Armstead was a four-star recruit by Rivals.com and sixth best defensive end in his class.

He originally committed to the University of Southern California to play college football, but switched to the University of Oregon.

He also played basketball in high school.

The San Francisco 49ers selected Armstead in the first round (17th overall) in the 2015 NFL draft.

He was the fourth defensive end selected in 2015.

Armstead was unable to attend training camp and organized team activities until Oregon's school year had concluded due to the NFL's policy that prohibits rookies joining teams until their year is officially completed.

Upon arrival, he was competing for the job as the starting defensive end against Quinton Dial, Darnell Dockett, Glenn Dorsey, and Tank Carradine after it was left vacant due to the retirement of Justin Smith.

Head coach Jim Tomsula named him the fifth defensive end on the depth chart to begin the regular season, behind Quinton Dial, Glenn Dorsey, Tank Carradine, and Tony Jerod-Eddie.

Armstead made his NFL debut in the season-opening 20–3 victory against the Minnesota Vikings.

During the game, Armstead recorded one tackle for loss.

In Week 3 of the season, Armstead recorded three combined tackles and made his first NFL sack on quarterback Carson Palmer for a four-yard loss during a 47–7 road loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

In Week 11, he collected a season-high six combined tackles in a 29–13 loss at the Seattle Seahawks.

In Week 17, Armstead earned his first NFL start and made a solo tackle during a 19–16 overtime victory over the St. Louis Rams.

Armstead finished his rookie year with 19 combined tackles (14 solo) and two sacks in 16 games played with one game started.

The 49ers hired Chip Kelly as their new head coach, who was also Armstead's head coach at Oregon.

Armstead competed to be the starting defensive end after Glenn Dorsey was moved to nose tackle.

Armstead competed against DeForest Buckner and Quinton Dial.

Kelly named Armstead and Dial the starting defensive ends for Week 1.

In the season-opener against the Los Angeles Rams, Armstead recorded his first sack of the season on Case Keenum during the 28–0 shutout win.

In week 6 against the Buffalo Bills, Armstead recorded a strip sack on Tyrod Taylor which was recovered by former college teammate DeForest Buckner during the 45–16 loss.

On November 8, 2016, the 49ers placed Armstead on injured reserve with a left shoulder injury.

A week later, he had surgery to repair the injured shoulder.

Armstead finished his second season with 15 combined tackles (nine solo), a forced fumble, and 2.5 sacks in eight games and four starts.

During Week 2 against the Seahawks, Armstead recorded his first and only full sack of the season on Russell Wilson during the 12–9 road loss.

On October 17, 2017, Armstead was placed on injured reserve after suffering a broken hand in Week 6.

He finished his third season with 16 combined tackles (eight solo), 1.5 sacks, and a pass deflection in six games.

On April 30, 2018, the 49ers picked up the fifth-year option on Armstead's contract.

During Week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs, he recorded his first sack of the season on Patrick Mahomes during the 38–27 road loss.