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Day 1 of 49ers training camp shows glimpse of change on LB depth chart
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- Day 1 of 49ers training camp shows glimpse of change on LB depth chart
Big changes appear to be coming for the San Francisco 49ers linebacking corps. At least that's what Day 1 of training camp taught us.
The Sacramento Bee's Chris Biderman reported second-year linebacker Nick Martin was running with the first-team defense as the Sam linebacker alongside veterans Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw .
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This could be an indicator of some of the changes coming from defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. Warner will take his usual Mike LB spot, while Greenlaw slots back in as the Will LB where he spent his first six NFL seasons in San Francisco . The third LB wasn't used as frequently in past iterations of the 49ers' defense and the prototypical player at that spot was bigger than Martin's 6-foot, 220-pound frame.
Unfortunately for Martin he never got a chance to get his footing on defense with the 49ers. He looked to be on track for a bigger role in the 49ers' banged up LB corps entering Week 13, but on the first defensive play of the game he suffered a concussion that put him on the sideline for the rest of the season.
Now he's opening camp with another chance to secure the SLB spot over Luke Gifford , who struggled there last season, and rookie Jaden Dugger who only picked up the off-ball linebacker position in his final year of college.
If Martin can step into a starting Sam LB role in Year 2 it could be a significant lift for the 49ers' defense in an NFL that's beginning to lean more into multiple tight end sets. Martin is a good athlete who has upside in coverage while also possessing run-and-hit ability that general manager John Lynch compared to Greenlaw on draft night. Martin's presence could allow the 49ers to run their base defense out against those bigger personnel groupings without sacrificing much in coverage or run defense.
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We'll be keeping a close eye on Martin's progress at his new position as camp rolls along.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Day 1 of 49ers training camp shows glimpse of change on LB depth chart
