49ers’ 2018 ‘Who Is?’ series: Nose tackle Earl Mitchell

Niner Noise’s “Who Is?” series shifts focus to the San Francisco 49ers defense, looking at veteran nose tackle Earl Mitchell and his expected role in 2018.

Veteran nose tackle Earl Mitchell was one of the first signings from then-new San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch back in early 2017.

Mitchell inked a four-year, $16 million contract a year ago and helped transform what was a terrible Niners run defense in 2016 into the NFL’s seventh best last season, averaging just 3.8 yards against, down a full yard from the previous year.

On paper, the 30-year-old veteran didn’t appear to do too much. He recorded just 19 tackles and a sack over 16 starts. But his presence on base downs was pretty important.

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/18/2018.

With the league’s propensity towards passing, there’s a thought nose tackles have a diminished role in today’s NFL. Yet the 49ers’ issues against the run in 2016 mandated the move, and Mitchell did make a difference here.

But with a younger, cheaper nose tackle in the folds, D.J. Jones, what will Mitchell have to do this season to ensure his roster spot is safe?

Let’s take a look.

Why Earl Mitchell Improves in 2018

Mitchell definitely improved over his frustrating, injury-plagued 2016 campaign with the Miami Dolphins. So that’s a plus.

Being on the wrong side of 30 years old, though, Mitchell isn’t likely to make a vast sweep towards Pro Bowl caliber.

Still, the 6-foot-3 and 310-pound Mitchell provides the physical stature coordinator Robert Saleh envisions for the nose role in his base 4-3 Under defense. And while Mitchell had just one sack last year, Pro Football Focus awarded him a respectable 76.2 pass-rushing grade last year.

Interior pass-rushers are nightmarish for opposing quarterbacks, and Mitchell’s abilities here last year should bode well when opponents are passing out of their base offenses.

Why He Regresses

Despite the solid pass-rush efforts, Mitchell actually graded out worse against the run (41.8) and just a touch better overall (56.8) than Jones (51.2).

It wasn’t uncommon last year to see the 49ers’ other defenders at the second level hone in on interior runners. Mitchell would, at times, slow down opponents’ ball carriers. But the lowish level of tackles generally meant he was leaving the actual takedowns to his teammates instead of stuffing the runs directly.

San Francisco 49ers

Despite seeing 622 total snaps last year, it’s possible the Niners start leaning a bit more on Jones in base downs this year.

And that would mean a lesser role for Mitchell overall in 2018.

Projected Role with the 49ers in 2018

Speaking of that role, Mitchell still looks pretty safe to make the roster this season. He might not be a lock, per se, but putting him on a strong bubble is the right call.

Part of this is the financial impact. Mitchell would cost San Francisco $4.1 million in dead money with a negative hit in cap savings. And while the 49ers aren’t in a bad situation, cap-wise, it’s not exactly a sound fiscal decision to part ways with the veteran out of training camp.

What likely could happen, though, is the Niners start to shift their efforts towards Jones as the season moves along.

Jones flashed plenty of potential on  just 147 total snaps last season. We should expect that number to increase which, in turn, will lessen the amount of time Mitchell sees the field.

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Perhaps that helps keep Mitchell fresh, increasing his overall impact. But it’s pretty clear San Francisco is looking to get younger at this position, putting Mitchell’s status with the team beyond 2018 in some doubt.