San Francisco 49ers: 5 players likely to get cut before Week 1
By Aaron Tan
No. 4: Outside Linebacker Pita Taumoepenu
General manager John Lynch and Vice President of Player Personnel Adam Peters usually nail their late draft picks. Second-year outside linebacker Pita Taumoepenu looks different than the other 49ers’ late-round specials.
Since being drafted in the sixth round of the 2017 NFL Draft, Taumoepenu has not done much on the football field. He spent his rookie year on the 49ers’ 53-man roster, but was a distant third on the depth chart behind Eli Harold and Dekoda Watson — two relatively unknown players, and for good reason. The outside linebacker group for the 49ers is arguably one of the weakest in the league and is a big reason why the team’s biggest weakness is its pass rush.
Yes, pass rush is the team’s biggest concern, but Taumoepenu has not shown anything that warrants him a spot on this roster.
He is looking like a rare miss for this scouting department.