Is Buckner a future DPOY? A Seahawks standout thinks so. USATSI

Not too long ago, the Seahawks and 49ers formed one of the game's best rivalries. But with the 49ers' sudden decline and the Seahawks' consistency, the rivalry has faded in recent years.

Now, instead of watching Richard Sherman taunt Michael Crabtree in the final seconds of the NFC title game, we're left watching Michael Bennett offer unique praise for 49ers defensive lineman DeForest Buckner -- not that that's a bad thing. Bennett is one of the game's best defensive linemen, so when he evaluates his peers, he's worth listening to.

According to Bennett, Buckner has Defensive Player of the Year potential.

"I think DeForest, I'm lucky to be working with a guy like that," Bennett said, per Khon 2 in Hawaii. "I think DeForest will eventually be a Defensive Player of the Year. I think he has the talent to be able to do that. I keep telling him there's nobody like him. He's not normal. His physique, his speed, it's not normal so when you're not normal you can do not normal things and winning the defensive MVP is not normal for most people."

He's off to a good start already. In his rookie year, Buckner racked up six sacks and 43 tackles in 15 games. He was also durable. According to Pro Football Focus, Buckner led all interior defenders with 1,007 snaps. Overall, PFF handed him a positive grade:

He'll need some help, though, if he's going to make the leap from young and promising to an MVP-caliber player. Specifically, the 49ers need to manage his snap count better.

In June, Buckner admitted that he was "dead tired" on the field during his rookie year.

"There were times out there last year where I was dead tired and they wouldn't take me out," Buckner said, per The Sacramento Bee. "I feel like I'm hurting the team more staying out there not being able to, you know, live up to my full potential when I'm out there. And if I'm going hard and the coach pulls me out for a play or two to catch my breath so I can get back out there and be more efficient, I'll definitely take that."

The good news is that the new coaching staff seems on board with the idea of keeping him fresh.

"When you look at a guy like (DeForest) Buckner last year having played almost 1,000 snaps -- in my mind, that's criminal," defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said. "Ideally, all of them are working about 500, 600 snaps and trying to utilize everything they've got every snap that they're on the football field."

Buckner will also be playing alongside more talented players than he did last year. In this year's draft, the 49ers took pass rusher Solomon Thomas No. 3 overall and linebacker Reuben Foster at the end of the first round, giving Buckner some much needed help.

Don't expect the 49ers to be good in 2017, but with a potentially stacked defensive core in place, they won't be bad forever (probably).