San Francisco 49ers: 7 players in line for contract extensions in 2018

No. 6: Linebacker Brock Coyle

I really don’t need to get into the Reuben Foster situation, as it’s been covered enough for now, but linebacker Brock Coyle is an obvious insurance signing, as Foster will no doubt be suspended at the very least for a good chunk of the season.

Coyle wasn’t an All-Pro, or anything like that, after being thrust into the starting linebacker role after three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, generally on special teams. But he impressed with some surprisingly good productivity.

James Brady from Niners Nation broke it down:

"Coyle wound up playing in all 16 games, and finished the season with 64 combined tackles, a forced fumble, a pass deflection, four stuffs and half a sack. Coyle was fourth on the team in total tackles, behind Eric Reid, Reuben Foster and Dontae Johnson. He participated in 646 defensive snaps, or 57.42 percent of them. He also played on 191 special teams snaps, or 41.16 percent of them. All of Johnson, Reid, DeForest Buckner, Solomon Thomas and Ahkello Witherspoon out-snapped Coyle on the defensive side of the ball. Given all of that, I’d say he was fairly productive, though his potential for big plays is fairly low. He takes good angles on his tackling, but isn’t the kind of player who jumps a route or sniffs out a big play action for a huge loss."

So, really, all things considered, Coyle ended up faring quite well.

A free agent, currently, he deserves a reasonable contract to stay on and compete for a starting job, which he could be likely to at least temporarily get pending the Foster situation.