SF 49ers: 4 tweaks Kyle Shanahan can make to roster after loss vs. Cardinals
By Peter Panacy
No. 4: SF 49ers should start Dre Greenlaw over Kwon Alexander at WILL linebacker
Yes, the Niners are paying veteran linebacker Kwon Alexander a lot of money, and there’s no doubting he’s a key member of coordinator Robert Saleh’s defense.
But Alexander is also a major liability in tackling and has been over the majority of his career. While the official numbers aren’t out yet, Alexander missed at least three tackles on defense in Week 1, and he was primarily responsible for failing to properly spy Kyler Murray on two of his big runs on Sunday.
Alexander is still good, and this isn’t a massive indictment against him. But San Francisco has to think about moving second-year linebacker Dre Greenlaw from a starting strong-side (SAM) linebacker, on the field typically only on base downs, to a regular playmaking weak-side (WILL) linebacker in Alexander’s stead.
Greenlaw is much surer a tackler than Alexander, evidenced by the former missing just two tackles last season, for a 2.1 missed-tackle percentage, while the latter missed seven in eight regular-season games for a missed-tackle percentage of 17.1.
Plus, it would be a great way to reward Greenlaw for the pass deflection that led to a Murray interception to safety Jaquiski Tartt.
Alexander would still get a lot of field time with the Niners regularly rotating linebackers. But it’s worth giving Greenlaw a bit more attention from this point forward.