49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is nearly back to training camp mode. With a game against his former team, Seattle, looms, Saleh needs to figure out who will be on his defensive line and who is going to replace the injured Adrian Colbert at free safety.
At safety, Saleh can choose between veteran Leon Hall, the towering Dexter McCoil and the recently signed Antone Exum Jr.
Saleh said the winner is the player who has “the range, and the ability to track the ball from the middle of the field.”
Seemingly that would give Exum the edge, because he was originally signed as a cornerback. Hall can play every position in the secondary and most recently played nickel back. McCoil a former Canadian Football League’s Most Outstanding Player, is linebacker-sized at 6-4 220 pounds and is listed as a backup strong safety behind Eric Reid. However, he excelled in Canada where the field is larger.
On the defensive line, Saleh is likely to get two players back in Tank Carradine and Aaron Lynch, and the team added two more players, claiming Cassius Marsh from New England and Sheldon Day from Jacksonville. Day is slated to back up DeForest Buckner at the three-technique position, while Marsh is an outside pass rusher and someone Saleh coached in Seattle.
“He’s relentless,” Saleh said of Marsh’s pass rush ability. “He brings added speed, and added knowledge. Those are the things that made him a tremendous asset for us.”
Marsh will seemingly be in competition this week with Lynch for a roster spot on Sunday. The embattled Lynch has missed half the 49ers’ games with injury.