The San Francisco 49ers drafted Utah linebacker Pita Taumoepenu in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Taumoepenu flashed as a pass rusher in college, and the 49ers saw enough to consider him worthy of a draft slot as developmental LEO/SAM prospect who needed to add NFL weight and strength before he could be realistically expected to see the field.
These expectations held fast throughout his rookie year, despite some reasonably impressive performances in preseason that saw him record 1.5 sacks. Though Taumoepenu made the 53-man roster, he was only selected for the game day roster on two occasions.