Ronald Blair

Ronald Blair (born January 21, 1993) is an American football defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Appalachian State University.

For the soccer player, see Ronnie Blair.

Ronald Blair
Blair with the 49ers in 2019
No. 98 – San Francisco 49ers
Position:Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1993-01-21) January 21, 1993
Greensboro, Georgia
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:270 lb (122 kg)
Career information
High school:Greene County
(Greensboro, Georgia)
College:Appalachian State
NFL Draft:2016 / Round: 5 / Pick: 142
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
  • Second Team All-Sun Belt (2014)[1]
  • First Team All-Sun Belt (2015)
  • Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year (2015)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2020
Total tackles:88
Sacks:13.5
Forced fumbles:1
Fumble recoveries:1
Player stats at NFL.com

Early life

Blair was born in Greensboro, Georgia and attended Greene County High School, where he played football. In 2010, he was named the Georgia Region 4-AA Defensive Player of the Year.[2]

College career

Blair played college football at Appalachian State University from 2011-2015. In 2015, Blair was named Sun Belt Conference Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year, first-team all-conference honoree. In the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, he forced a fumble and returned it 20 yards in the Mountaineers 31–29 victory over the Ohio Bobcats.[2]

Professional career
Blair in a game against the Denver Broncos

Coming out of Appalachian State, analysts had Blair projected to be drafted anywhere from the third to sixth round. He was ranked the thirteenth best defensive end out of the 171 available by NFLDraftScout.com. Blair was invited to the NFL Combine and performed all the drills. He injured his quad on his first 40-yard dash attempt. At Appalachian State's Pro Day, he was able to successfully improve on all his numbers, except the shuttle, but chose not to redo his bench press or 3-cone drill. He improved his 40-yard dash from 5.18 to 4.85, his 20-yard from 2.96 to 2.81, his 10-yard from 1.74 to 1.63, his vertical from 30 inches to 33.5 inches, and broad jump from 9'5" to 9'11".[3]

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand size40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 2 1⁄8 in
(1.88 m)		 284 lb
(129 kg)		 34 in
(0.86 m)		 10 1⁄4 in
(0.26 m)		5.15 s1.74 s2.96 s4.53 s7.95 s30 in
(0.76 m)		9 ft 5 in
(2.87 m)		32 reps
All values from NFL Combine[4][5]

Blair was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fifth round, 142nd overall, in the 2016 NFL Draft.[6] On November 27, 2016, Blair got his first NFL sack on Ryan Tannehill of the Miami Dolphins. He ended his rookie season playing in all 16 games, recording 16 tackles and three sacks.

On September 3, 2017, Blair was placed on injured reserve.[7] He was activated off injured reserve to the active roster on November 4, 2017.[8]

On November 13, 2019, Blair was placed on injured reserve after he tore his ACL in a Week 10 27-24 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks.[9] Without Blair, the 49ers reached Super Bowl LIV, but lost 31-20 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

On March 23, 2020, Blair re-signed with the 49ers.[10] He was placed on the active/physically unable to perform list (PUP) at the start of training camp on July 28, 2020,[11] and was placed on the reserve/PUP list at the start of the regular season on September 5, 2020.[12]

References
  1. "UL Lafayette's McGuire Headlines All-Sun Belt Conference Teams and Individual Award Winners". www.sunbeltsports.org. Sun Belt Conference. December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  2. http://www.appstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205238240
  3. "Ronald Blair, DS #13 DE, Appalachian State: 2016 NFL Draft". NFLDraftScout.com. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  4. "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles – Ronald Blair". nfl.com. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  5. "2016 Combine workout: Ronald Blair". nfl.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  6. Price, Taylor (April 30, 2016). "San Francisco 49ers Draft Appalachian State DL Ronald Blair". 49ers.com. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  7. "49es Claim DL Xavier Cooper off Waivers, Sign 8 Players to Practice Squad". 49ers.com. September 3, 2017. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018.
  8. "49ers Announce Roster Moves". 49ers.com. November 4, 2017. Archived from the original on March 2, 2018.
  9. "49ers Sign DL Damontre Moore; Place DL Ronald Blair III on Injured Reserve". 49ers.com. November 13, 2019.
  10. Gantt, Darin (March 17, 2020). "49ers bringing back Ronald Blair for another year". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  11. "49ers Announce Roster Moves". 49ers.com. July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  12. "49ers Announce Roster Moves". 49ers.com. September 5, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
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