San Francisco 49ers: Ranking Each Position by Strength Entering 2016

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December 20, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman (53) tackles Cincinnati Bengals running back Giovani Bernard (25) during the first quarter at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Linebackers

Unless you live under a rock (or you are a Seattle Seahawks fan), you know how good NaVorro Bowman is.

Coming back from his devastating knee injury, Bowman led the league in tackles in 2015 with 116 and per PFF he ranked 51st out of 97 qualified linebackers with a grade of plus-61.1 (from a zero to 100 scale), which included a ridiculous plus-84.8 grade for run defense.

Bowman is the undisputed leader of the defense. His presence alone on the field makes the linebacker unit anything but weak.

The rest of the linebacker corp is very good. Outside linebacker Aaron Lynch is the best pass rusher on the team, Ahmad Brooks sometimes flashes his talent, and inside linebackers Gerald Hodges and Ray-Ray Armstrong are strong, serviceable players. Fellow inside backers Nick Bellore and Shayne Skov are the primary gunners on the special teams and do a terrific job in this role.

October 4, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Nick Bellore (50) tackles Green Bay Packers strong safety Micah Hyde (33) during the third quarter at Levi /

The questions are with perennial disappointments Corey Lemonier and Tank Carradine. In nearly three full seasons Lemonier has 1 total sack and 27 tackles to his credit. Wow, what a stud!

Choke.

Carradine has four total sacks and 30 tackles to his credit. Wow again! Carradine, at least, is finally being given the chance to succeed at outside linebacker. He has lost around 25-30 pounds and is back to a better pass rusher weight of 265. From the reports of OTAs and minicamp, he was already being mentioned as an impact pass rusher.

The 49ers need this unit to get better. It is far from perfect, but it is far from dead either. Because the team didn’t do anything to improve the inside linebacker position through the draft or free agency, this unit collectively needs to improve. A higher producing unit will automatically improve both the pass and rush defense.

Next: Running Backs