49ers: 5 best controversial roster cuts that will help the team in 2019

49ers’ youth movement at linebacker

We finish off our list of the 49ers’ best controversial roster cuts and personnel moves of 2019 with a “two-for-one” at a position group that will see significant changes in defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s new wide-nine, stacked-linebacker defensive scheme.

Entering the preseason, the Niners had 22-year-old linebacker Fred Warner and free-agent acquisition Kwon Alexander, who turned 25 last month, penciled in as the team’s starting MIKE and WILL linebackers. San Francisco’s starting job at their new off-ball SAM linebacker position was technically vacant, but the expensive 30-year-old veteran Malcolm Smith was the leading candidate for the role.

Releasing LB Malcolm Smith

22-year-old rookie Dre Greenlaw, the undersized high-character linebacker the 49ers selected in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, quickly laid claim to the 49ers’ starting SAM linebacker job. Greenlaw immediately impressed at training camp and finished the preseason as the team’s top tackler while recording a sack on his lone pass rush.

Greenlaw is still raw, but as he flew around the field making plays, the difference between the rookie and his oft-injured veteran competition was too stark for the 49ers’ coaching staff and front office to ignore. Two years and six starts after Smith signed a 5-year, $26.5 million contract with the team, Lynch and Shanahan swallowed their pride and released the linebacker on Tuesday.

Releasing LB David Mayo

In March, the 49ers signed former Carolina Panthers backup linebacker David Mayo to replace inside linebacker Brock Coyle, who retired on the same day. Like Coyle, Mayo’s primary value is on special teams, where San Francisco already has a number of standouts, including 2018 starting SAM linebacker Mark Nzeocha, who nearly made the Pro Bowl last season partially due to the ballot-stuffing efforts of his German brethren.

Over the course of the preseason, Mayo demonstrated the ability to bring down ball-carriers — when he was able to reach them. However, far too often, his lack of athletic ability was evident, as he allowed would-be short gains to turn into huge plays for opposing offenses:

https://twitter.com/Chargers/status/1167258918260621313

With Mayo offering little but experience and hustle on defense, the 49ers took an extended look at 22-year-old rookie linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair. Al-Shaair went undrafted due to a knee injury he sustained in college last season, but appeared to be fully recovered as he demonstrated his athleticism and playmaking ability at both MIKE linebacker and on the outside.

Although Al-Shaair is more raw than Greenlaw, Alexander’s ability to back up Warner at MIKE linebacker allowed San Francisco to keep the high-upside youngster over the career-backup veteran.

Now that we’ve covered the good, be sure to check out tomorrow’s article on the San Francisco 49ers’ biggest roster-cut mistakes of 2019.