Move Carradine to OLB?

I obviously want the Niners to lock up Aldon Smith, but with pressing contractual needs on the offensive side of the ball (Kaepernick, Crabtree, and Boldin), I wonder if moving Carradine to OLB is a possibility. Yes, he's thought of as the heir apparent to Justin Smith, but running a 3-4 defense, I think it's easier to find lineman than pass rushers. So, at OLB (in 2015), there would be Brooks, Lemonier, Skuta (re-signed, and potentially Carradine). Here are the D-linemen under contract for 2014 (and beyond, for some):

DT/NT: Ian Williams, Glenn Dorsey, Quinton Dial
DE: Ray McDonald, Justin Smith, Tony Jerod-Eddie
((Practice squad/reserve: Mike Purcell, Lawrence Okoye, Christian Tupou)

Remember, the Niners will only carry 6 DL into the season. Of course Dial or Jerod-Eddie could be upgraded through free agency or the draft, but 6 is basically the roster limit.

Who knows, maybe Carradine's knee doesnt hold up well, or he cant make the transition to OLB from DE, but it may be worth considering. And since this is a message board, definitely worth discussing!

Thoughts?

i'll let you know when i see him play

Tank can also be used when we play our nickle packages with 4 down lineman.

(Could also spell Justin to give him a breather)

Aldon_____Tank_____TJD______Brooks

Let me get this stragiht. You want to get rid of possibly the best OLB in the league and easily the team's best pass rusher so they can try out a unproven 2nd year player?

We need a true nose tackle

Originally posted by ninerhippy:

We need a true nose tackle

This. Would allow Dorsey to backup Justin & Ray Mac at his more natural DT position. Would really strengthen the run D even more. As far as Carradine, He is a 4/3 defensive end pass rusher.

have you seen how heavy this guy is! look at a pic of him then tell me he could cover sideline to sideline or any kind of coverage. no. i do like the idea of a stronger pass rush tho cause contrary to the news our pass rush is not what it was before last season. it seems like were good at getting the initial pressure on teams o lines but we have a harder time getting the qb than we have before. we need to utilize the talent we have on our roster. the second half of this season was the first time i saw fangio rotate D linemen an it was great to see it get more an more as the season went on. dorsey is a monster idk how the hell ian williams beat him in camp. we have lemonier who needs to be rotated in more andeven though aldon is great, truth is he wasnt as good as he was before this season. we got good talent it is just on the bench. i think we should draft one more OLB for depth an get depth for the DL when we have extra picks. we have j smith mcdonald with great backups in carradine, dial, dobbs, jerod eddie, dorsey, williams and more. all those guys coudl start on other teams we need to use that cause our pass rush needs that power

Originally posted by ninerhippy:
We need a true nose tackle

dorsey is a nose tackle

Lets see the guy play first and what he brings to the table…but my first thought is no, he was supposed to be groomed to spell JS and possibly be his replacement

move him to safety to replace wHitner

No

Uh...No.

Carradine is being groomed to replace JUSTIN Smith, not ALDON Smith

Originally posted by stefano89:

Originally posted by ninerhippy:
We need a true nose tackle

dorsey is a nose tackle

So is Ian Williams.

Originally posted by Marvin49:
Uh...No.

Carradine is being groomed to replace JUSTIN Smith, not ALDON Smith

i'm waiting for the 'move lattimore to te?' thread