I’ve got my hand on the incredible extensive free agency guide from the folks at Pro Football Focus, and we’re going to make our way through the 49ers’ pending free agents, and perhaps some targets as well, looking at what PFF had to say about them overall. Today, we look at edge rusher Aaron Lynch.
Lynch is a player that I like a lot, and I’m disappointed to see that he’s fallen out of favor. The newest regime either don’t like what they see in practice on tape or they don’t believe Lynch is much of a scheme fit for the 49ers. I like his raw potential as a pass rusher, a lot more than any other player on the 49ers’ roster, but it’s pretty clear he’s going elsewhere this offseason.
Before we get into some of the individual stats, here’s what PFF had to say in their writeup for Lynch:
After a promising start to his career, Lynch never quite took the next step. Few pass-rushers can match the raw tools that Lynch possesses, but his inconsistency looks ingrained at this point. The former fifth-round pick had 62 pressures his second season in the NFL, but he has been limited to only 379 snaps the last two seasons. His length and size make him an intriguing prospect on the open market.
For his three-year grades, they gave Lynch an 80.0 in 2015, a 51.3 in 2016 and a 78.7 in 2017. His pass rush grade in 2017 was a 76.2, while his run defense was the highest of his career, a stellar 82.8. His coverage grades are low, at 53.7, but he didn’t do much covering anyway.
In 2015, his 14.0 pass-rush productivity was the fourth best of any 3-4 outside linebacker. They credit him as having 520 pass rush snaps over the past three seasons, with 10 sacks, 19 quarterback hits and 58 quarterback hurries. They give him 1,115 run snaps in that same time, with 35 stops.
Lynch apparently didn’t play enough snaps to be on their run-stop percentage or pass-rushing productivity list for 2017.
Finally, they project his best fit as the Green Bay Packers, with a projected annual guarantee of $800,000 to $1 million. All credit to PFF for tracking the useful stats, so use the link above if you want to see more.
Previous PFF free agency guide articles: RB Carlos Hyde, CB Dontae Johnson, DE Tank Carradine