Aldon Smith: San Francisco 49ers' Man on the Edge

Aldon Smith was considered a surprise pick at No. 7 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Most scribes and pundits had the 49ers taking a quarterback or maybe even an offensive lineman. If they were to go defense, clearly the pick would've been a top shelf corner or trading down.

Then, out of the blue, the card read the name: "Aldon Smith—defensive end, Missouri."

San Francisco 49ers fans don't traditionally like surprises. And this choice, in a new regime was certainly a big "huh?" for most fans.

It has been said through the annals of NFL lore that a pass rusher is born a pass rusher. It's not a skill you can teach. And as NFL players come and go, the great pass rushers usually and typically flash brilliance during their first year.

Most recently this was case with Brian Orakpo and DeMarcus Ware.

Then again, there were the other cases of Aaron Maybin and Vernon Gholston.

Where would Aldon Smith fall in that pack?

As the shortened offseason came to a start in training camp, Aldon Smith was getting reps but didn't show much in preseason. He was slated to be a "tweener" but only saw work at defensive end.

What did head coach Jim Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio have in mind for the kid?

For the first three games of the regular season, he was silent, recording no tackles and no sacks.

Then, just when the 49ers season looked like it was going to round up in the same manner that it had for the last eight years in a Week 4 game in Philadelphia, the 49ers came out roaring at halftime.

That roar was led by Aldon Smith.

Sure, the memory of that game was Justin Smith's strip of Jeremy Maclin to seal the 49ers victory, but it was Aldon who recorded five tackles, four of them solo, which included 1.5 sacks.

It has been laughed at for years that the San Francisco 49ers haven't had a pass rusher since Charles Haley. This to the point that the 49ers even brought back Charles Haley in the late '90s to suck whatever juice from him he had left.

Before Haley, there was Fred Dean.

But all around and in between there were just frozen faces and failed dreams.

There were names like Todd Kelly, Pierce Holt, Israel Ifeanyi, Andre Carter (who had a good rookie year but was then washed out in the transitional coaching carousel that followed) and Manny Lawson—all came and went with little luster or fanfare.

Now it appears that after almost two decades of going without a legitimate outside threat, the 49ers have found their pass rusher in Aldon Smith.

If he continues to improve and play at a top level, Aldon Smith will be a linchpin for this defense for years to come.

A pure pass rusher is a rare thing in the NFL. They don't come along too often and can change an entire franchise around when they do.

Take the San Diego Chargers, for example. With a top shelf Shawne Merriman, they're one of the top defenses in the league. And without him, they've missed the playoffs for two years in a row now.

Aldon Smith takes pressure off the defensive backs, the linebackers and the defensive line. He must be accounted for and double teamed, which will open up opportunities for others to make plays.

The defensive coaching staff of San Francisco can scheme with him and move him around to create mismatches.

And the best part of it all is that Aldon Smith is only 22 years old and not even remotely close to his athletic prime.

His final numbers in his rookie year: 37 tackles, 31 of them solo, and 14 sacks.

Those are All-Pro numbers.

If the San Francisco 49ers want to keep their foot on the gas pedal and compete for the NFC Championship every year, going up against the likes of Eli Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, they're going to need Aldon Smith.

They're going to need their man on the edge.