San Francisco 49ers: The curious case of EDGE Aaron Lynch
By Peter Panacy
San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Aaron Lynch has been a non-factor in 2017 despite the team’s pressing need for a consistent pass-rushing presence. What happened?
EDGE Aaron Lynch has become something of a forgotten commodity for the San Francisco 49ers this season.
This, even though the Niners have hurt badly for a consistent edge-rushing presence, ranking 18th in the NFL this year in sacks (20).
What happened?
San Francisco 49ers
The talented-yet-frustrating pass-rusher, who registered a combined 12.5 sacks his first two years in the league, didn’t exactly get off on the right foot with San Francisco’s new regime in head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
Weight problems and other issues even prompted me to suggest the Niners part ways with Aaron Lynch during training camp.
While that didn’t happen, it’s looking like San Francisco’s regime doesn’t view him as a part of its long-term plans either.
Lynch hits free agency this offseason. Based off what we’ve seen from the preseason through Week 10, any thought of the 49ers re-signing him is bleak at best.
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I haven’t read anything on this, but it said a lot when Lynch was working with second- and third-team units during the preseason.
Sure, he saw a lot of snaps there and generally played well. But this didn’t exactly bode well when considering players seeing a lot of preseason time rarely translate over to regular-impact guys.
It’s possible to conclude this based off the number of snaps he’s seen this season.
Before a calf injury in Week 6, Lynch saw just 110 snaps. That’s an average just over 18 per game, which might be decent for an older situational pass-rusher. But for a player who’s 24 years old, that’s another matter.
A Prolonged Injury History
Lynch’s only fully healthy season was back in his rookie year in 2014. He missed two games with a concussion in 2015 and saw action in only seven games, suffering from a variety of ailments, last year.
In addition, a back injury limited Lynch’s impact earlier this season. And the calf strain that has held him out since Week 6 is merely the latest in a long line of physical setbacks.
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I haven’t been able to dig up much on how serious his latest injury has been. The Niners had him in limited practice prior to Week 10 before ruling him out. But the fact they haven’t placed Lynch on injured reserve suggests they might be keeping him in a quasi-backup role.
He’s been inactive the last four weeks, but San Francisco still holds onto his roster spot.
Regardless, this doesn’t bode well for Lynch’s future tenure with the 49ers. Not putting him on IR is probably just a sign the team wants an extra pass-rusher around in case the defense suffers another key injury between now and the end of the season.
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But considering how little Lynch’s impact has been this year, it’s a safe bet he won’t be around in 2018.