49ers need to bench these 2 veteran linebackers now

If you're not pressing the panic button, it's probably at least in your peripheral vision.

Whether it's back-breaking special teams miscues, poor defensive play, or star players not playing up to their billing, after the San Francisco 49ers' late-game meltdown against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, there's a lot of blame to go around.

One of the Niners' biggest glaring weaknesses through all weeks of the season, however, has come in the middle of the field. While Fred Warner has remained at his usual All-Pro level, and indeed seemed to wage a one-man attempt to win the Minnesota Vikings game, his linebacker partners have largely been found wanting.

There was always a feeling this would happen when Dre Greenlaw went down with his Achilles tear in the Super Bowl last February. As Greenlaw has always been one of the most vocal leaders and best players, any dropoff by the unit could've reasonably been described as expected.

However, rather than simply dropping off from a high level to average, the play at the position has almost entirely cratered.

And it's the two players playing next to Warner who are the culprits.

Let's take a look at each player in turn, and who could replace them

De'Vondre Campbell

In March, this deal made some sense.

De'Vondre Campbell is a league veteran who has played at high levels throughout his stops with the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, and Green Bay Packers. Signing him was a relatively sensible attempt to cheaply buttress a linebacker group missing one of it's key pieces in the aforementioned Greenlaw, especially considering that he agreed to a relatively cheap one-year deal.

Since then, however, Campbell has proven why he was available on the market at such a discount rate.

Through his three games with San Francisco, he's been an absolute liability in coverage, particularly the Rams game where quarterback Matthew Stafford constantly targeted him.

It's not Campbell's fault necessarily that he is struggling to cover down the field. He's 31 years old and has likely had his peak years, but it was utterly sad watching him try to cover down the field on the play that finally broke the 49ers' back, where he was called for defensive pass interference when trying to cover a much more athletic player in LA's Colby Parkinson.

Worse yet, though, whether through lack of confidence or ability, Campbell's run defense has fallen off a cliff as well. He's rarely (if ever) around the ball, and seems to be at least a step slow. Again, it felt like the Rams were specifically calling plays to target him in the run game, and it worked, particularly on the game-tying touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

Frankly, Campbell was clearly a great player once, but his age is definitely showing on the field this year.

It's hard to see what value Campbell's bringing, and with Greenlaw's return still over the horizon, surely the time has come to put someone like Curtis Robinson in for more defensive snaps. He showed a lot of fine effort to win a roster spot, and deserves the opportunity to see more time on the field.

Dee Winters would also be a logical pick, but he seems to be battling a troublesome ankle injury.

Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles

It's eternally hard to understand the 49ers' fascination with Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. He's held on to a roster spot like other roster "barnacles" like Dontae Johnson (the infamous reserve defensive back) for several years now, while never truly distinguishing himself when given a chance to show up on the field.

Even going back to 2022, it would be a concern when he had to play more snaps (usually when Azeez Al-Shaair was missing games, or when Greenlaw had groin trouble) because he simply just wasn't at the level of an NFL starter.

Fast forward two years, and Flannigan-Fowles is still pretty much the same player, only now he's moved into the No. 3 linebacker role with Greenlaw out. The former is still poor against the run and excerable against the pass, and this shows no sign of improving.

He appears to be compensating by trying to be more decisive and aggressive, but is frequently hitting poor gaps in the running game, getting washed out by blockers, and in one particularly egregious moment in Sunday's game, straight out falling to the turf under no pressure.

The 49ers clearly value his time spent in their system and the so-called "veteran savvy" he brings, but the fact remains Flannigan-Fowles is simply a huge net negative when he's on the field, and it's hard to imagine the aforementioned Robinson or Winters, or heck, even seventh-round draft choice, Tatum Bethune, who looked a lot more instinctive, decisive, and a better tackler in the preseason, being noticeably worse in the spot.

NFL coaches tend to think of the floor of a player rather than the ceiling, particularly when replacing talent like Greenlaw, and they clearly think Flannigan-Fowles' floor is high enough to allow him to remain in games.

At this point, though, it would surely be worth checking on the ceiling of other players, because, experienced or not, Flannigan-Fowles can't seem to get it done.

Do you agree? What changes would you make in the 49ers defense?

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