Five 49ers Who Need to Make the Leap in 2016
Tank Carradine
One of most highly rated members of general manager Trent Baalke’s “Team ACL,” big things have long been expected of former Florida State defensive end Tank Carradine.
Yet, despite ending the 2014 season strongly by posting three sacks in the final three games, Carradine has struggled to make the transition to a three-man defensive front and found consistent playing time difficult to come by last season, recording just one sack across 14 games.
The 49ers have made a move to try to get the most out of the 2013 second-round pick, with Baalke stating he will be used primarily as a pass-rush specialist on a four-man defensive line in San Francisco’s nickel sets.
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Baalke, per CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco, said the team made the switch because they believe Carradine operates better in an attack-and-react system rather than a read-and-react system.
As a pass-rusher in the nickel, Carradine will certainly have the freedom to attack, and the evidence from his final collegiate season in 2012 — when he racked up 11 sacks — suggests he should flourish in such a role.
But that season was almost four years ago, and Carradine has yet to prove it in the NFL. He will need to drop the weight he put on in order to adapt in a three-man line, but a productive Carradine would be a huge boost to a 49ers team that finished the year with a mere 28 sacks in 2015.
Carradine is a free agent in 2017, how he performs as a situational rusher will determine whether he leaves the Niners having failed to make an impact or is rewarded with a salary increase from San Francisco or on the open market.
Next: Vance McDonald