San Francisco 49ers: 5 Players to Watch For in Training Camp

Tank Carradine

Finally general manager Trent Baalke and the coaching staff finally saw the light and realized Carradine was miscast as an interior defensive lineman.

At Florida State, he was primarily used as an edge rusher and he was effective there, gathering 11 sacks before he tore his ACL which ended his college career early.

The 49ers asked him to bulk up from 265 pounds to around 290 pounds and rush from the inside. How did this work?

Four total sacks and 30 total tackles in two full seasons.

Not exactly legendary stats.

Now, Carradine was asked to slim down earlier in the offseason (he is reportedly back to the 265 mark) with the notion he will be moved to an outside linebacker role and will rush the passer from the outside, which is his natural position.

Even with the loss of weight, he still has the power to dominate offensive linemen. He also had good OTAs and minicamp performance, as Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area notes:

"Carradine, who has trimmed down and gotten quicker, has been one of the standouts during the 49ers’ offseason program, which concludes Thursday with the final practice of the team’s three-day mandatory minicamp. Carradine is not likely to be called upon to drop into coverage much, but he seems to be picking up some of the requirements of his position."

The 49ers need pass rush help. They have only had Aaron Lynch and Ahmad Brooks last season in the role (each had 6.5 sacks). Now with the additions of Carradine, DeForest Buckner and Ronald Blair the 49ers should have an easier time in 2016 in getting to the QB.

Carradine can work himself into the pass-rush rotation with a strong training camp. If he keeps showing the power pass rush moves with the new found speed after the weight loss, he could be looking at a 10-plus sack season.

Here is a recent video of him working on his pass rush technique, per Ryan Sakamoto of ninerfans.com:

Next: Trenton Brown