Ronald Blair (born January 21, 1993) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. He played college football at Appalachian State. He was drafted by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the fifth round of the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015 NFL Draft, 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park (Chicago), ...

, and played for the team until 2020.

Early years

Blair was born in

Greensboro, Georgia Greensboro is a town in and the county seat of Greene County, Georgia, United States. Its population was 3,648 as of the 2020 census. The city is located approximately halfway between Atlanta and Augusta on Interstate 20. History Greensboro was ...

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.

College career

Blair played college football at Appalachian State University from 2011 to 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.

Professional career

Pre-draft

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

out of the 171 available by NFLDraftScout.com. Blair was invited to the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...

and performed all the drills. He injured his quad on his first

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a h ...

attempt. At Appalachian State's

Pro Day The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, 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 The three-cone drill, 3-cone drill or L-drill is a test performed by American football players. It is primarily run to evaluate the agility, quickness and fluidity of movement of players by scouts. It is most commonly seen at the NFL Combine in ...

. 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 The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

from 9'5" to 9'11".

San Francisco 49ers

Blair was drafted by the

in the fifth round, 142nd overall, in the

. On November 27, 2016, Blair got his first NFL sack on

Ryan Tannehill Ryan Timothy Tannehill III (born July 27, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he was a wide receiver until his junior year, an ...

of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

. He ended his rookie season playing in all 16 games, recording 16

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

and three sacks. On September 3, 2017, Blair was placed on injured reserve. He was activated off injured reserve to the active roster on November 4, 2017. 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. Without Blair, the 49ers reached

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conferenc ...

, but lost 31–20 to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

. On March 23, 2020, Blair re-signed with the 49ers. He was placed on the active/

physically unable to perform list Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

(PUP) at the start of

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

on July 28, 2020, and was placed on the reserve/PUP list at the start of the regular season on September 5, 2020. He was released after the season on March 12, 2021.

New York Jets

On June 1, 2021, Blair signed with the New York Jets, reuniting him with his former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. He was released on August 31, 2021 and re-signed to the practice squad the next day.

References

External links

Appalachian State Mountaineers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Ronald 1993 births Living people People from Greensboro, Georgia Players of American football from Greene County, Georgia American football defensive ends American football linebackers Appalachian State Mountaineers football players San Francisco 49ers players New York Jets players