The San Francisco 49ers have just wrapped up their seventh practice of training camp, and an excused absence resulted in some players moving up the depth chart. Aaron Lynch missed practice because his wife had a baby last night. His absence led to Ronald Blair getting his first team work.
Pita Taumoepenu was expected to move up, but instead, the team got him work as the SAM linebacker in place of Ahmad Brooks. The coaching staff gave Brooks a veteran’s day off, and Eli Harold is out with a concussion. Shanahan said they decided to give Taumoepenu some time at a “new position.” That would seem to indicate he has primarily been working as an edge rusher.
Taumoepenu has been fairly under the radar through the first week of training camp. Cross-training at SAM will help his roster chances. As a sixth round pick, he’s firmly on the bubble. There are a lot of moving parts at edge and outside linebacker, so any extra work he can get at multiple positions is a big help for him.