Super Bowl 54: Drafting the best starting roster from 49ers and Chiefs
By Samuel Teets
Linebackers: Kwon Alexander, Dre Greenlaw, Fred Warner (SF)
The 49ers sweep the linebacker position. No one can debate the Kwon Alexander and Fred Warner selections. Besides being two of the best players lining up at the position come Super Bowl LIV, both are capable of playing at a Pro Bowl level.
Alexander signed a four-year, $54 million contract with the 49ers last offseason. He missed ten games in 2018 and eight games in 2019. Unfortunately, injuries are a trend for the 2017 Pro Bowler. Alexander is only 25 years old, so he can still get back to his usual self, but injuries may limit his promising career moving forward. Alexander landed on IR earlier this season but returned for San Francisco’s playoff run.
Warner looks like a better player than Alexander at this point. Besides being available more often, he can also play at a Pro Bowl level. In 2019, Warner recorded 118 tackles, three sacks, three forced fumbles, nine passes defensed, an interception and a defensive touchdown. He can do everything for San Francisco.
The third linebacker position is a tossup, and no selection will go uncriticized because there is no winning with this pick. With Reggie Ragland playing inconsistently in 2019, the process came down to Dre Greenlaw, Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson. While Hitchens produced the most tackles in 2019, Greenlaw is only a rookie who could see his role on the defense increase next season.
Cornerbacks: Richard Sherman (SF), Charvarius Ward (KC)
Richard Sherman easily walks away with the top cornerback spot on this hypothetical team. Between Kansas City and San Francisco, he is the only standout corner. After missing seven games in his final season with the Seahawks and failing to record an interception in 2018, Sherman reasserted his dominance in 2019.
In his second season with the 49ers, Sherman intercepted three passes and defensed 11. He also returned one of those picks for a touchdown. The Associated Press selected Sherman as a Second-Team All-Pro. Its Sherman’s first All-Pro selection since 2015.
The second cornerback pick falls into the same category as the third linebacker. This selection could go a lot of ways. Both Bashaud Breeland and Ward can stake their claims for Kansas City, as can Emmanuel Moseley and Ahkello Witherspoon for San Francisco. However, Ward, who intercepted two passes and defensed another 10 in 2019, barely claims this spot.
Ward started all 16 games for the Chiefs this season. He did not get picked on as much as Breeland. As for Moseley and Witherspoon, neither corner even made 10 starts. San Francisco’s defense as a whole played well, but the 49ers switched around their corners a lot.