San Francisco 49ers: Uchenna Nwosu should be Day 2 target

Uchenna Nwosu is a draft prospect who can excel as a edge rusher and off-ball linebacker and should be a target for the 49ers on day two of the NFL Draft.

We’re living in age of the hybrid, both on the road and in the NFL and, under John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, the San Francisco 49ers have been keen on embracing the change. Last offseason the 49ers brought in a multifaceted fullback in Kyle Juszczyk who excels as a pass-catcher in space and also used a seventh-round pick on Adrian Colbert, who came out as a cornerback but established himself as the team’s starting free safety by the end of the season.

The Niners also effectively turned Eric Reid into a safety-linebacker hybrid, who spent much of his time playing in the box.

They have been linked with a number of hybrid players in the draft. Derwin James, who fits the mold of the safety-linebacker hybrid, has been regularly mocked to the 49ers. The organization also scheduled a pre-draft visit with Minkah Fitzpatrick — per Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee — capable of playing free safety, outside corner and in the slot.

But the position where the 49ers could most benefit from adding a hybrid talent is at outside linebacker. In that position, a defender who can operate as an off-ball player and excel as a pass rusher off the edge would be a huge boost to a defense that only had 30 sacks in 2017 and will likely lose Reuben Foster to suspension for at least some of the 2018 campaign.

Boston College’s Harold Landry and Georgia’s Lorenzo Carter are obvious candidates to fill such a role. However, Landry — though impressive enough as an edge rusher to be worthy of the 49ers’ consideration with the ninth overall pick — may be more of a project as an every-down linebacker.

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Carter is not worthy of that high of a pick, but is such an impressive athlete that it is ambitious to expect him to be there when San Francisco is on the clock in the second round at pick No. 59.

A defender who has flown more under the radar is USC’s Uchenna Nwosu, but the tape from his time with the Trojans provides more than enough evidence to suggest he can be an extremely successful hybrid edge-linebacker for the 49ers.

At 6-2 and 251 pounds, Nwosu is undersized for an edge defender, but his time of 4.65 seconds in the 40-yard dash ranked in the 87th percentile for edge defenders, according to Mock Draftable. And that burst is clearly evident on film, as are the athleticism and pass-rush tools that enabled him to rack up 11.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks in 2017.

Nwosu gets off the ball extremely well, with his quickness allowing him to surge through holes between guards and tackles on the interior, a situation in which his slight frame proves a positive. He combines that quickness with a consistently effective rip move and the ability to bend to shorten his path to the quarterback, while he also also has club and dip moves in his repertoire.

The best of his catalogue of pass-rush moves were on display in USC’s game with Stanford. First on a third-down play you see him win with the rip move and bend back to the ball, narrowly missing out on a sack. Then the same bend is on show as he uses the club to win his matchup and force a throw away.

Though there are plenty of occasions where Nwosu’s rush stalls and he does not have an answer, he has shown a capability to counter with a spin move, as he did on the play below in a game with Cal.

Unsurpisingly given his size, Nwosu has been bullied off the ball by larger linemen at the point of attack. However, overall he is still impressive in how he deals with contact. Nwosu plays with low pad level and is undaunted by the prospect of fronting up offensive linemen, his fearless attitude on show on this play against Ohio State as he fights through a block to make a run stop on third down.

Nwosu’s ability to make plays in the backfield and near the line of scrimmage is the most impressive facet of his game. Yet his all-around play as an off-ball linebacker should significantly encourage NFL teams.

Many prospects lack the instincts to make an immediate impact in the NFL, but that cannot be said of Nwosu. He shows the discipline to stay home on read-option plays and his awareness extends to coverage.

Posting 13 pass deflections in 2017, Nwosu consistently displays the wherewithal to get his hands up to bat down passes when he is unable to get home on the pass rush.

And, when he drops back into coverage, Nwosu demonstrates the ability to read the quarterback’s eyes and crowd the passing lane, ensuring throws are at least more difficult for opposing signal callers even if he is unable to make a play on the ball.

The size may bother some teams, with Nwosu particularly struggling when he is confronted by angle and down blocks, and he would also be well served to improve his tackling technique having whiffed on a number of attempts due to a failure to properly wrap up. But Nwosu is the type of smaller athletic linebacker who fits the mold that is becoming the new norm in the NFL.

His athleticism makes him a strong fit for a 49ers defense that is heavily dependent on speed and his versatility in being able to rush the passer and drop into coverage would aid defensive coordinator Robert Saleh in bringing some disguise to his scheme.

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For all the 49ers’ strides in the second half of the 2017 season, theirs remains a roster with a number of holes. Likely to still be on the board by the time San Francisco’s second-round selection comes around, Nwosu is a edge-linebacker hybrid talent who can help them fill two.