Elvis Dumervil is already making a strong impression on the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff. Through two training camp practices, Dumervil has shown Kyle Shanahan that he's exactly what the 49ers envisioned in their free-agent addition.
"Elvis has got a lot of length," Shanahan said. "He comes off the ball hard. He's a pro. He works hard every single play. I've never worked with him before. I know a lot of people who have. I've gone against him a number of times and he's exactly as advertised."
Dumervil comes to San Francisco with 99 career sacks, five Pro Bowl appearances and two All-Pro campaigns. However, the second half of his four-year tenure with the Baltimore Ravens was marred by a nagging Achilles injury. Dumervil played in just eight games in 2016 with three sacks.
Now back to full strength, the heralded pass-rusher expects big things from himself in 2017.
"(My) personal goals are to do a lot better than I did last year," Dumervil said. "Last year was rough being injured. To be able to come back and appreciate being healthy is important."
Possibly more telling than Dumervil's belief in himself is his belief in the rest of San Francisco's roster. He was spotted providing tips to Solomon Thomas on Saturday. Dumervil later shared that he'll embrace a mentorship with the 49ers first-round pick.
"He was obviously raised well," Dumervil said. "He's a great kid. He loves football. He loves to get to the quarterback and be disruptive.
"There's a reason why he was the No. 3 pick. He is a dominant player. He will be dominant this year. I made a commitment to him that anything I see that can help him, I'll be there to help him."
The veteran linebacker also heaped praise onto Joe Staley and Trent Brown. Dumervil will see plenty of those two throughout training camp and their 1-on-1 matchups will be a highlight during Sunday's first padded practice.
"We've danced off a few times in my career," Dumervil said of Staley. "I've always had a tremendous amount of respect for Joe. You see why he's a good player, now being his teammate.
"I think we have one of the top tackle duos I've ever played between Trent and Joe."
Dumervil took things a step further in his evaluation of Brown.
"He's born with things you can't work towards," Dumervil said. "He's got big size, long arms and can move. Those types of things separate you from the pack. Not everybody is as big as him. Now he's got to get in shape and fine tune his technique."
It's easy to forget that Brown was a seventh-round pick. He emerged in 2016 as the team's starting right tackle and aims to retain his role again this season.
The positive sentiments from a respected, decade-long NFL veteran are another indication that things are changing for the better in San Francisco.
