Prior to Week 3 of the preseason, the San Francisco 49ers traded outside linebacker Eli Harold to the Detroit Lions. The roster move created a new competition at SAM linebacker, and a potential change to the Niners’ defensive scheme.

When the San Francisco 49ers traded starting outside linebacker Eli Harold to the Detroit Lions on Thursday, it came as a bit of a surprise, given the Niners’ lack of talent at edge rusher. While Harold certainly hasn’t been a premier pass rusher in the NFL — he has just five sacks over his three-year career — he’s a top athlete who was productive when rushing the passer in college.

So far this preseason, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh used Harold as the team’s starting SAM linebacker on base downs, and as an outside pass rusher in some obvious passing situations. It appeared Harold was a lock for the 49ers’ initial 53-man roster — until news of the trade broke on Thursday.

49ers general manager John Lynch quickly provided a press release to the media, which included nothing but positive words for the three-year veteran. Lynch commented on Harold’s ability to stay on the field, which ironically may be one of the reasons the 49ers decided to release their starting SAM linebacker. In Locked on 49ers’ 2018 offseason positional breakdown series, I noted that by playing a high percentage of snaps over his career, Harold was due a significant pay increase in 2018, which could potentially affect his roster status if another outside linebacker challenged him for a starting role:

“While Harold hasn’t been productive, he has been able to stay healthy, and has never missed a game over his professional career. Due to his playing time, Harold was eligible for the “Proven Performance Escalator,” which ballooned his cap hit from under $1 million to $2.1 million in 2018.”

Earlier this year, I wrote that linebacker Reuben Foster‘s return to the 49ers this offseason could force Harold out of a roster spot if San Francisco’s coaching staff chose to use their plethora of inside linebacker talent on the outside. However, all three potential outside linebacker candidates — Malcolm Smith, Fred Warner and Brock Coyle — missed practice time and preseason action due to injury. Given the 49ers’ lack of talent at outside linebacker, and their desperate need for an improved pass rush, Harold’s roster spot seemed to be locked down. On Thursday, we learned otherwise.

Without a proven SAM linebacker on the roster, the 49ers now have an outside linebacker competition to go along with their ongoing competition at MIKE and WILL linebacker. After the trade, Shanahan announced linebacker Mark Nzeocha will get the first shot at the job, and will start today against the Indianapolis Colts, although it’s fitting that the 49ers’ depth chart still doesn’t list a starter at the position:

Unfortunately for San Francisco, the Houston Texans rarely used base personnel in last week’s game, which kept the 49ers in subpackages that didn’t contain the SAM linebacker position. While Dekoda Watson played 11 snaps as an edge rusher, Pita Taumoepenu saw just eight defensive snaps, and Nzeocha was on the field for just three plays:

Fortunately, the 49ers face a Colts team in Week 3 that uses two-wide receiver sets at a much higher rate. As Indianapolis doesn’t have a fullback on their roster, they use 12 personnel as their base set. In 2017, the Colts used 12 personnel at the second-highest rate in the NFL, despite the fact that the four-win team played from behind for much of the season.

While San Francisco’s SAM linebackers should see ample playing time against base personnel today, the 49ers may use their third linebacker differently in 2018 than they did last season. In separate interviews on Thursday, both general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan implied that the team’s top three linebackers were listed on the roster as inside linebackers, but had the ability to play on the outside in a modified role.

Smith and Coyle both have experience playing SAM linebacker from their time with the Seattle Seahawks, and Warner played on the outside at BYU, although he didn’t play on the line of scrimmage. Warner is the best of the three in coverage, but doesn’t have experience setting the edge.

The fact that Saleh’s defensive system doesn’t mandate that the SAM linebacker play on the strong side of the formation already gives the 49ers some freedom to use different personnel at the position. In Saleh’s base defense, the SAM linebacker’s responsibilities often mimic those of a 4-3 Under strong-side linebacker. But in subpackages, an inside linebacker can have a role similar to that of a stacked 4-3 Over strong-side linebacker. Here is an example from last week’s game; against 11 personnel, the strong safety is stacked with the two inside linebackers, with Warner lined up on the strong side of the formation, just outside of the Texans’ tight end:

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner

If Shanahan and Saleh determine that Foster, Smith and Warner — or another combination of inside LBs — are the best three linebackers on the roster, we may see some small changes to Saleh’s defensive scheme, allowing the 49ers to keep all three inside linebackers on the field.

About the Author: Chris Wilson

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