Originally posted by NinerSickness:
I don't know why the Niners haven't considered using Ahmad Brooks at ILB until Bowman comes back. That's where he played at Virginia, and he played MLB for the Bungles.
I'm pretty sure Lemonier would make a better starter than a rookie ILB or Dan Skuta.
This was already addressed to an extent, but with Aldon almost certainly facing some suspension, Brooks is our most effective pass rusher (I agree that Lemonier probably has more potential, but I don't think he's there yet), and almost certainly our best OLB in coverage and against the run. By moving Brooks to ILB, we effectively weaken three starting positions, and I don't think Brooks would be markedly better than Wilhoite or Borland. Wilhoite was solid last year when he played for Willis. I think he'll be fine this year, granted he won't be an impact player.
I think we're going to see more nickel and dime this year, though, with an additional DBs playing instead of a LB. And when we go with two LBs - particularly after Aldon gets back - it certainly might make sense to go with Aldon and Lemonier as the down linemen and Brooks and Willis as the LBs. Not really interested in Brooks as an ILB in our base package, though.