49ers 2021 ‘Who is?’ series: Will Nathan Gerry help at all?

The 49ers decided to bring aboard former Eagles linebacker Nathan Gerry to help, primarily as a backup and on special teams, but will he even make the roster?

If there’s one thing clear about the San Francisco 49ers‘ 2021 offseason, it’s that they weren’t totally satisfied with their depth at linebacker.

True, the Niners have two high-caliber linebackers in Dre Greenlaw and the first-team All-Pro, Fred Warner, but the depth behind them is of concern.

Perhaps this helps explain why San Francisco elected to bring aboard former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nathan Gerry on a one-year veteran’s minimum deal during the offseason.

Gerry, 26 years old and the Eagles fifth-round NFL Draft pick in 2017 out of Nebraska, spent his first four years in Philly and worked his way up from a reserve player into a regular starter in 2019 and 2020 before suffering a season-ending ankle injury in October of last year.

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com
Generated 6/17/2021.

Even when Gerry was a regular starter back in 2019, his primary use was still on special teams, and it’s likely the 49ers had that in mind when they originally signed him last March.

But an influx of other linebackers could easily push Gerry off the 53-man roster between now and Week 1.

Why Nathan Gerry improves with 49ers in 2021

Gerry’s pass-coverage in 2020 was pretty abysmal with opposing quarterbacks posting a 146.4 passer rating when targeting him, as well as Pro Football Focus awarding him a lowly 38.6 coverage grade in the process.

But that might be somewhat of an anomaly rather than the expectation, as Gerry’s previous pass-coverage grades were in the 60s, including a decent 61.8 mark back in 2019 when he started 12 games.

For Gerry to make his name relevant for the Niners defense, he’ll have to revert back to that kind of production again, especially considering the importance of pass-coverage linebackers in today’s pass-happy NFL.

Why Nathan Gerry regresses with 49ers in 2021

While Gerry had better pass-coverage success before 2020, none of his efforts were exactly overly impressive. It’s one thing to be a good cover defender from this position when combined with solid run-stopping skills, but Gerry has generally lacked in that department, too.

In 2019, he missed a whopping 16 tackles, and his abbreviated 2020 campaign wasn’t much better with five misses.

Read More: 49ers linebacker depth is thin behind Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw

There’s an awfully good chance this comes back to haunt Gerry during training camp and the preseason, leaning towards him becoming more of a liability on defense than anything else.

And if he can’t shore that up, not even his special teams prowess will help much.

Chances of making 49ers’ 53-man roster

Considering Gerry’s one-year deal includes zero in guaranteed money, San Francisco can afford to view him as merely a camp body with an outsider’s chance of making the 53-man roster.

It won’t be easy, though.

For now, third-year linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair is penciled in as the 49ers’ No. 3 linebacker behind Warner and Greenlaw. Other veterans, such as Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, are also in the mix, while the Niners also inked two undrafted free agents, Justin Hilliard and Elijah Sullivan, to compete with Al-Shaair, Flannigan-Fowles and Gerry for one of perhaps two depth spots on the roster.

Gerry will have to outperform at least three of those names to stand a chance of making the cut. And given Gerry’s recent pass-coverage issues, as well as his general problems with tackling, it doesn’t seem likely he’ll hang around too long.

An impressive camp could change that, however, yet he still has a long way to go to make the 53-man roster.