49ers sign LB Elijah Lee

SANTA CLARA

The 49ers have signed rookie linebacker Elijah Lee from the Vikings practice squad, according to Ian Rapoport.

I like this signing. Lee was one of my favorite linebackers coming out of college this year. I had the 49ers drafting him in the fifth round of a mock draft I wrote 20 days before the draft.

Lee is a similar athlete to Ray Ray Armstrong. Both are tall, lean weakside linebackers. But I think Lee might better than Armstrong. Armstrong was horrible against the Panthers on Sunday. Horrible in coverage and horrible in run support. We’ve seen enough of Armstrong through the years. I’d like to see the Niners play Lee.

What do you think of this signing?

This article has 24 Comments

    1. I liked him too, and thought he could be used similarly to the way the Falcons use Deion Jones. Good poach!

  1. Looks like the release of Theus opened the door for Elijah. Maybe we’ll get the second coming of Walsh…

  2. From NFL.com…

    STRENGTHS: Possesses angular build with long arms. Won’t just give in to size. Works hard to constrict running lanes and will fire downhill into the gaps when they present themselves. Showed off impressive long speed and closing burst when chasing down ball carriers against Texas A&M in the Texas Bowl. Squares up in the hole and meets running backs heads up. Productive and disruptive behind the line of scrimmage. Rangy. Shows ability to navigate both high and low in weaving through the bodies in his pursuit to the ball. Adequate awareness in space in man coverage. Has athleticism and ball skills to stay on the field for all three downs.

    WEAKNESSES: Missing the sand in his pants to power up and take on blocks effectively. Lacks instincts and feel for cutback lanes and counters. Can be goaded into false steps. Below average hand usage. Will need to learn to punch and separate or he could be overwhelmed by linemen. Plays too tall when sifting through the flow of traffic and will miss too many tackles. Needs to do better job of finding the ball in coverage. Too many ankle tackles rather than running through the target with a clean finish.

  3. Well with a name like Elijah what bad could happen? Perhaps he’ll be a miracle worker and the prophesy of 49er greatness will come to fruition.

    1. Elijah lived at the time when the kingdom was falling apart and a horrible king Ahab was in charge. Not sure the allusion is a good one.

  4. He’s a 7th rounder so a lot of teams thought he wasn’t worth taking a look. Let’s hope he is better than what is there rather than wishful thinking.

  5. From Rotoworld, um, I mean Wikipedia, and very heavily edited:

    “Elijah … was a … wonder-worker in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Ahab (9th century BC). In the Books of Kings he is said to have … raised the dead, brought fire down from the sky, and to have been taken into the heavens in a whirlwind, either accompanied by a chariot and horses of flame or riding in it.”

    We need a guy like this, so I like the signing.

  6. I don’t see Foster missing a month. 2 weeks tops! Ferrari Foster will be raring to go in 10 days. That boy is tough!

    WILL is the least of their problems ;)

    1. His foot and leg were turned completely the wrong way. If Foster is resurrected and only misses 2 weeks after the signing of Elijah then we will truly be entering into a golden time of prophesies and miracles. Count me among the Sons of the Prophets.

  7. He looks like a purple people eater in that gear. Hope he would be a running back and quarterback eater wearing 49 colors.

  8. About time we grabbed somebody else’s PS player…we’ve had arguably more than our fair share poached from us. You know Lee had as good of college coaching as you can get under Bill Snyder, legendary coach of Kan St. If Lynch hadn’t signed him, I was in favor of Donald Butler, but Lee’s got lots of talent. He was 1st team All Big 12, had 110 tackles…works for me.

  9. I like Lee also as a prospect he is a little lighter then I would like for the position but as long as his frame can handle another 10 lb or so he should be fine. I’m surprised that they didn’t go for someone with a bit more experience doubt Lee will be able to contribute much early on

    1. Was a little surprised that they gave up on Bulware so quickly.
      That kid was outstanding in the Clemson championship game against Alabama.

  10. Minn has one of the defenses in the NFC, if not the best. Not making that squad as a rookie is not surprising. Good pickup? We’ll see but it could give Foster time to rehab the high ankle sprain correctly (4-6 weeks) instead of rushing back. Worth the gamble.

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