SF 49ers: 5 biggest disappointments over first quarter of 2020

No. 3: Kwon Alexander hasn’t been an impact player for SF 49ers

Just over a year ago, the SF 49ers brought aboard veteran linebacker Kwon Alexander to be a key difference maker for a revamped defense.

While his on-field efforts were limited by a torn pectoral suffered on Oct. 31 last season, he still provided a first-half spark and gave the defense some swagger it hadn’t had since the early part of the previous decade. Even Alexander’s postseason return was impressive, even though his play wasn’t at 100 percent.

Now, however, Alexander is looking to be more of a liability than anything else. While he’s been credited with only three missed tackles on the year, poor route recognition and bad angles have led to him surrendering huge gains to mobile quarterbacks, such as the Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray in Week 1 and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Carson Wentz in Week 4.

Both rushed for touchdowns with Alexander out of position.

Pro Football Focus currently ranks the Niners’ highest-paid linebacker 44th out of 79 qualifiers at his position, suggesting the team isn’t getting anything close to the kind of production it wanted from him when he inked his lucrative free-agent deal in 2019.

Perhaps Alexander bounces back over the final three quarters of the regular season.

In the meantime, though, it’s looking more and more as if Dre Greenlaw, not Alexander, is the wiser choice to assume a larger defensive role moving forward.