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San Francisco 49ers: Power ranking the top 30 players of 2018

By Aaron Tan

GREEN BAY, WI - OCTOBER 15: George Kittle #85, Matt Breida #22 and Kendrick Bourne #84 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrate after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on October 15, 2018 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
GREEN BAY, WI - OCTOBER 15: George Kittle #85, Matt Breida #22 and Kendrick Bourne #84 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrate after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on October 15, 2018 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 30: Cornerback Richard Sherman #25 and San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Elijah Lee #47 tackle Los Angeles Rams running back C.J. Anderson #35 during the first half of a game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 30, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 30: Cornerback Richard Sherman #25 and San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Elijah Lee #47 tackle Los Angeles Rams running back C.J. Anderson #35 during the first half of a game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 30, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

. Inside Linebacker Elijah Lee. 21. team. 42. .

Rounding out the first 10 players on this list is linebacker Elijah Lee, who I was ecstatic about when the 49ers signed him off the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad. Lee was a great linebacker at Kansas State, who served as the team’s tackling machine. He did not get many opportunities until his second year in the league, once Reuben Foster was released.

Lee immediately stepped up and became the tackling machine he was in college, having a good feel for the ball and decent coverage skills.

Unfortunately, as every inexperienced player does once in a while, he did take some bad angles on ball carriers and had an alarmingly poor missed tackle on Seahawks running back Chris Carson in the Week 15 game against Seattle:

With that being said, Lee really stepped it up when his number was called, ranking second on the team in solo tackles.

Lee should keep his spot on the roster in 2019.