How Jaquiski Tartt Pick Will Allow 49ers to Combat Inside Linebacker Shortage

After the San Francisco 49ers lost inside linebackers Patrick Willis and Chris Borland to retirement in the offseason, most assumed general manager Trent Baalke would address the position in the draft. When Baalke did not select a player to compete for the second spot on the inside next to NaVorro Bowman it seemed like he had chosen to stick with what he already has, but that is some way from the truth.

Niners head coach Jim Tomsula said after the draft, per David Fucillo of Niners Nation, that inside linebackers who were on their radar went four or five picks before San Francisco's turn and that Baalke opted to stick to his board, which of course is what many NFL general managers try to do. Yet, with their second-round pick, the 49ers brought in a player who can help the team overcome the losses of Willis and Bowman.

San Francisco selected safety Jaquiski Tartt out of FCS program Samford at No. 46, a pick few would have anticipated but one that could turn out to be an astute move on the part of Baalke.

The 6'1" and 221-pound Tartt impressed at the Senior Bowl and has both the size and the athleticism to play the strong safety position. He delivers a thumping hit on contact and is quick enough—he clocked 4.53 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the combine—to get downhill and make plays in run support. 

Coming from a small school and with doubts over his ability in coverage, it would perhaps be unrealistic to expect Tartt to come in and be an effective starter right away, particularly when the 49ers already have two starting safeties in Eric Reid and Antoine Bethea who have each been to the Pro Bowl in the last two seasons.

Yet Tartt's athleticism and skill set should allow him to make an immediate impact as a situational player and offset the departures of Borland and Willis, who was well known for being an excellent all-round linebacker and providing an intimidating presence due to his physical style of play.

That physicality will be missed but can also be replaced by the presence of Tartt, who is a strong fit to perform a similar role to the one Kam Chancellor does for the division rival Seattle Seahawks as an in-the-box safety who patrols the middle of the field and delivers punishing blows when defending both the run and the passing game.

A player with the capability to fulfil that role would enable the Niners to give their defense a fear factor that has perhaps been lost with the offseason exits. However, with the defensive landscape in the NFL undergoing something of a revamp, Tartt can be more than just a big-body thumper in the early stages of his career in the pros.

John Froschauer/Associated Press

In a league where the passing game is becoming more and more established as the king, nickel and dime schemes are being used as base defenses rather than sub-packages and that is why a player like Tartt is so valuable.

With Willis and Bowman the Niners had two inside linebackers who were both outstanding in coverage. Bowman, providing he has not lost a step following his knee injury, should still be one of the better pass-defending backers in the league, but the same cannot be said about the rest of the linebacking core.

Michael Wilhoite, the most likely starter next to Bowman, received a 2.1 pass coverage grade from Pro Football Focus in 2014, while the Niners' most recent free-agent addition at inside linebacker, Philip Wheeler, was given a -4.2 for his play in coverage, excelling more as a run-stopper with the Miami Dolphins last year. Ahmad Brooks—who could move in from his outside backer spot—also failed to impress in that area, earning a grade of 0.5.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

With Willis and Bowman on the team, the 49ers had in the past left their linebackers in the game in nickel situations and took out one of the their down linemen. However, the presence of Wilhoite, who did appear a step off the pace on multiple occasions last season, as a permanent starter may affect their ability to do that on a regular basis going forward.

The more athletic Tartt, with his ability to drop down into the box, would prove an upgrade on Wilhoite and the other inside backers due to his blend of size, quickness and physicality, which could prove extremely useful in a division where the Seahawks added a considerable offensive threat in Jimmy Graham.

As Baalke—per Fucillo—states, it is a stretch to suggest a rookie could stop one of the best tight ends in the league.

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Jimmy Graham's a Pro Bowl Tight End, so I'm not going to sit here and say a rookie coming into the National Football League is going to shutdown Jimmy Graham. That's an awfully good football player. We've got to find some ways within our schemes. At times, you're going to single him. At times, you're going to double him, you're going to squeeze him. But that's for the coaches. I don't getting into the X-ing and O-ing. But we feel good about his ability to line up and cover people.

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While Tartt may not be able to shut down the likes of Graham in his first year in the league, he does give the Niners the opportunity to matchup due to his athletic traits. He is bigger than prospective starting nickelback Jimmie Ward, who was drafted by San Francisco in the first round last year. He could be inserted in place of his former high school teammate or Wilhoite as a pass defender or run-stopper in a sub-package that more offenses are attacking with the ground game. 

In the dime, Tartt has the ability to fill in for Wilhoite as one of the two inside backers or operate as one of the six defensive backs. In either case, it seems likely that San Francisco, as the division rival Arizona Cardinals did in 2014, will play a number of downs with four safeties on the field in Bethea, Reid, Ward and Tartt, which should enable them to match up better against tight ends and wide receivers in the slot.

In an ideal world an inside linebacker would have fallen to the Niners at a spot where they felt comfortable taking one. Instead Baalke chose to address a position that could become an area of need in the coming years due to Bethea's age and Reid's history of head injuries and add a player with the versatility to fulfil a number of roles in sub-packages.

Tartt will probably have to go through a learning curve before becoming a four-down player in the NFL and the odds are Wilhoite will still see a lot of action in 2015. But Tartt's addition gives the Niners another option should they feel uncomfortable with Wilhoite in certain situations or if defensive coordinator Eric Mangini wants a more intimidating presence akin to Chancellor to patrol the middle of the field. Willis and Borland may be gone but because of that you can expect to see more sub-packages from San Francisco in 2015 and plenty of Tartt in his rookie year.

Nicholas McGee is a San Francisco 49ers Featured Columnist based in Leeds, England. Follow him on Twitter @nicholasmcgee24.