San Francisco 49ers: Top 5 positions to upgrade and how to upgrade them
No.3: Linebacker
Why the position must be addressed:
Reuben Foster played excellent football as a rookie, but was injured for a good portion of it and was then arrested. Malcolm Smith never made it to Week 1 and Brock Coyle was decent in relief work, but definitely can be upgraded.
How it can be addressed:
In this article, a case is made for Paul Posluszny:
"Posluszny played under current San Francisco defensive coordinator Robert Saleh when he was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ linebackers coach from 2014-16. The two are very familiar with each other, and there’s no documented beef between the two. A reunion wouldn’t be the worst idea, and would provide Foster an outstanding mentor as he moves into his sophomore season."
I think this actually is a good point. Veteran leadership is just what Foster needs, and Posluszny can be a good stopgap.
In the draft, don’t rule out Roquan Smith from Georgia or Tremaine Edwards from Virginia Tech to give Foster a partner in crime, or as I suggested in my previous article, someone like Darius Leonard on day two could make sense.