When Patrick Willis abruptly announced his retirement from the NFL, we talked about how the San Francisco 49ers were perhaps the only team in the league that could realistically absorb the loss of such a high level inside linebacker and come out the other end looking fine. That was due to the fact that they had NaVorro Bowman and second year player Chris Borland, who played extremely well as a rookie.
Of course, things got a bit out of hand when Borland also announced his retirement from the league. That left the 49ers with Bowman, who had missed an entire season due to injury and who was not guarantee to play at a high level, and guys like Michael Wilhoite, Gerald Hodges, and Shayne Skov were left to pick up slack at the other inside spot.