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It has been a slightly brutal offseason for the San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker depth chart. Patrick Willis unexpectedly announced his retirement due to feet issues. And then Chris Borland one-upped him with an even more stunning retirement announcement.
Things have finally settled down, and as the 49ers advance through the offseason workout program, the inside linebacker position will be one to watch in the upcoming draft. Here is who the team has so far:
NaVorro Bowman
Michael Wilhoite
Desmond Bishop
Nick Moody
Shayne Skov
Nick Bellore
The 49ers signed Bishop late this past season, and then worked out a one-year deal late last month with the veteran. The team signed Bellore a few days later. He will get some preseason playing time at inside linebacker, but odds seem pretty good he was brought in primarily as a special teams player.
That leaves the team with Bowman, Wilhoite, Moody and Skov. Bowman is now 14 months removed from his ugly knee injury. All indications are that he is progressing fine, but we will want to see how active he is during OTAs and minicamp. Wilhoite is currently the top linebacker next to Bowman. He had a solid 2014, starting every game in place of Bowman, but he likely has a somewhat limited ceiling. That's not to say he can't retain his starting job, but I don't think anybody expects him to develop into a Bowman or Willis, or even what Borland showed us in one season.
The question is how high the 49ers are willing to go to find more depth at the position, or even potentially a starter. There are some very solid options, but it feels a little top heavy to some extent. Could the 49ers afford to wait until day three, or will they pounce early?
Here is a look at the top 20 inside linebackers, according to Poldarn's consensus rankings. Some of these guys played OLB in college and would move in, but these are a lot of the guys that might be on the 49ers radar.
1. Eric Kendricks, UCLA
2. Paul Dawson, TCU
3. Denzel Perryman, Miami (FL)
4. Benardrick McKinney, Mississippi State
5. Stephone Anthony, Clemson
6. Markus Golden, Missouri
7. Kwon Alexander, LSU
8. Hayes Pullard, USC
9. Ramik Wilson, Georgia
10. Jordan Hicks, Texas
11. Taiwan Jones, Michigan State
12. Ben Heeney, Kansas
13. Martrell Spaight, Arkansas
14. Mike Hull, Penn State
15. Jake Ryan, Michigan
16. Bryce Hager, Baylor
17. Jeff Luc, Cincinnati
18. Trey DePriest, Alabama
19. Amarlo Herrera, Georgia
20. Obum Gwacham, Oregon State