49ers roster: 4 players who are trending down after loss to Cardinals

No. 3: 49ers EDGE Samson Ebukam

There’s a chance San Francisco could be without its No. 2 edge rusher for a long time, Dee Ford, who was placed on injured reserve with the same back issue he dealt with for all but one game in 2020.

The 49ers signed former Los Angeles Rams EDGE Samson Ebukam to a two-year deal last offseason to serve as insurance for this and to provide a supplementary pass rush, and Week 9 against an immobile Colt McCoy should have been a prime opportunity for Ebukam to take pressure off pass-rusher Nick Bosa to do everything.

But Ebukam was mostly absent, aside from losing contain on a number of outside runs, and had just two tackles in the game, failing to register a sack or even a quarterback hit.

And as far as pressures on McCoy went, it was reserve EDGE Arden Key who recorded one of the Niners’ two sacks.

To date, Ebukam has just one sack and one quarterback hit, proving himself as one of the more recent San Francisco free-agent busts.