Matt Maiocco wrote yesterday that San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke plans on using Tank Carradine in a more pass-rush situational role for 2016. Baalke went into detail about Tank's status with the team during the owners meetings last week in Boca Raton, Florida:
Here's what Baalke said specifically (from Maiocco's article):
"Toward the middle of last year, we switched that put him more in the nickel type role and you saw him start to progress as the season went on," Baalke said. "So I think you can expect to see him lighter, playing more in the four-man fronts than the three-man fronts and being a strong contributor in that role."
Tank Carradine's hopeful role as the heir to Justin Smith never quite panned out the way the 49ers wanted it to. After gaining weight and going from defensive end to defensive tackle only to lose the weight and return to defensive end, Carradine's had his own issues in finding playing time. The weight gain was something he was uncomfortable with and he approached (then) 49ers coach Jim Tomsula about losing the weight and getting back to something less disorienting for him.
The 49ers pass rush is something that has been underwhelming for the most part. Tank had a few small moments in 2015 but was mostly quiet, along with the rest of the defense. There was some speculation that Tank would be converted to stand-up linebacker with the weight loss, but this apparently proves that will probably not happen. The team will definitely look to take things to the next level in 2016, perhaps Tank will (finally) be a part of that.