The San Francisco 49ers got a lot out of their 2017 rookie class, with seven of their draft picks getting starts this season, and all but running back Joe Williams getting some kind of snaps this year. One who saw limited playing time was linebacker Pita Taumoepenu. The sixth round pick was active for two games this year, and played exclusively on special teams in both games.
Coming out of the draft, there was talk that Taumoepenu would compete for the LEO role. However, since then, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has discussed him as a candidate to play SAM and backup at LEO.