Ranking 49ers 5 best NFL Draft picks by John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan

No. 5: LB Dre Greenlaw

When the 49ers selected former Arkansas linebacker Dre Greenlaw with their fifth-round selection (148th overall), it was likely that they were looking at him as a depth guy who could play special teams and maybe contribute on defense down the road.

After all, the team had just given free-agent linebacker Kwon Alexander a four-year, $54 million contract that included $27.5 million in guaranteed money. Not to mention the emergence of second-year linebacker Fred Warner, who was currently anchoring the middle of the defense after a strong rookie season.

And then Alexander tore his pectoral muscle in San Francisco’s win over the Arizona Cardinals on Halloween, and the assumption was that he would be out for the season.

Into his slot stepped the rookie, Greenlaw, who ended up starting the rest of the season, even after Alexander returned incredibly early from his injury to play during the 49ers playoff run, and was noted by Pro Football Focus as one of 15 players who played more than 50 percent of his team’s snaps without missing a single tackle in the running game.

He was also in elite company in the tackling department overall, as pointed out by The Athletic’s David Lombardi.

Sure, he made some mistakes throughout his run as a starter for the vaunted 49ers defense, but as a rookie, these kinds of things are expected. But he also had some incredible plays, one of which arguably saved the 49ers’ season:

Greenlaw was voted to the Pro Football Writers Association’s 2019 NFL All-Rookie team, joining the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Devin Bush and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Devin White, both top-10 picks, at linebacker.

Not too bad for a fifth-round pick.