San Francisco 49ers: Kwon Alexander out for the season with torn pectoral
By Justin Fried
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Kwon Alexander has been declared out for the season with a torn pectoral leaving a huge hole in the middle of the 49ers defense.
The San Francisco 49ers have been dealt a huge blow with the announcement that linebacker Kwon Alexander will be sidelined for the remainder of the season with a torn pectoral.
As first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Alexander is set to undergo season-ending surgery on his pectoral muscle and will be placed on the injured reserve.
The injury was sustained in the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s 28-25 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Alexander sustained a massive blow to his chest midway through the fourth and the 49ers wasted little time declaring him out for the rest of the game.
And in his absence, the defense struggled more than it has in some time.
An 88-yard touchdown to rookie wideout Andy Isabella highlighted a late fourth-quarter comeback attempt by Arizona. Fortunately, San Francisco was able to hold on for the narrow victory but the impact of Alexander’s absence was notable.
By all measures, Alexander has proven many of his detractors wrong this season and has been an integral part of perhaps the best defense in the NFL. After missing much of last season with a torn ACL, the 49ers handed Alexander a hefty four-year, $54 million contract in the offseason.
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Many viewed this as an overpay, especially for a player coming off a serious ACL injury. However, Alexander has been nothing short of phenomenal this season as he ranked second on the team with 34 tackles entering Thursday’s game.
Now, the 49ers still do have young linebacker Fred Warner who has put together another solid campaign in his sophomore NFL season. But outside of him, the team is going to need to find production from their other young talent.
Perhaps the most likely replacement will come in the form of rookie fifth-round pick Dre Greenlaw. Greenlaw has already been playing a good amount of defensive snaps in the base package but very well could be asked to play more in the nickel role.
We could even see a little more out of undrafted rookie Azeez Al-Shaair who has seen 18 total snaps on defense over the last two weeks but has primarily been a special-teamer to this point.
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In all likelihood, we’ll essentially just see everyone move up a role. Warner will now be the team’s top linebacker in the nickel playing alongside Greenlaw while Al-Shaair will play more in the base package with the other two.
The 49ers have the personnel to make it work, but there will undoubtedly be a steep drop-off in talent level. While Greenlaw impressed in the preseason and Al-Shaair was a pleasant summer surprise, neither is on the level of Alexander.
The 49ers’ defense is still dominant at each level, but their linebacker position just suffered a major blow with the loss of Alexander.
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Here’s to hoping that the young talents on the roster could step up and impress with the increased playing time.