49ers Announce Roster Decision for ‘Decisive’ Tackling Machine at LB

Getty The 49ers celebrate a turnover on January 22, 2023.

The San Francisco 49ers have become one less a player in one of their deepest position groups on the field at linebacker for the time being.

Via the NFL’s transaction wire on Tuesday, June 20, the 49ers requested an injury waiver for rookie Mariano Sori-Marin, who signed with the team as an undrafted rookie free agent following the 2023 NFL Draft.

It is not known the type of injury Sori-Marin has that persuaded the 49ers into this decision. By rule, teams have until Wednesday, 1 p.m. Pacific Time to claim a player who was waived.

‘Decisive’ Helped Describe the Big 10 Linebacker’s Game

While the 6-foot-2, 236-pound Sori-Marin was considered an unknown on the 49ers defense, the franchise brought in what Pro Football Focus’s Brad Spielberger helped describe as a leader and film guru during his University of Minnesota days.

“Throw on the tape of Minnesota Golden Gophers linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin, and you see one of the more decisive middle linebackers in college football,” Speilberger wrote back on April 21 before the draft.

Sori-Marin, who’s of Cuban descent, established himself as the Gophers’ top tackling machine with a team-high 88 stops. He also led the way with six tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Speilberger lauded Sori-Marin’s ability to play as an “off-ball” ‘backer.

“At a position like off-ball linebacker, which comes with a steep learning curve and as many mental challenges as physical, it’s natural to see players second-guessing. But that doesn’t bog Sori-Marin down,” Speilberger wrote in his evaluation. “In fact, he welcomed the responsibility of getting everyone lined up in the right spot on a Minnesota defense that finished the 2022 season ranked tied for third in the FBS in points allowed per game (14.2) and 11th in expected points added (EPA) allowed per play (-0.181).”

Speilberger pointed out that Sori-Marin became a film junkie during his youth football days. He included how the Big 10 linebacker’s 4.62 speed in the 40-yard dash landed him in the 71st percentile among off-ball linebackers in PFF’s database.

Sori-Marin additionally had a strong endorser in his head coach P.J. Fleck.

“One thing that makes Mariano Mariano is that he’s a throwback football player,” Fleck told the Big 10 Network back on October 17, 2022 while also describing him as an old school player in the mold of former Miami Dolphins All-Pro Zach Thomas.

Fleck included with Sori-Marin “plays faster and more physical than probably any player I’ve ever coached.”

Sori-Marin ended his career with 274 total tackles including 14.5 behind the line of scrimmage. Sori-Marin, though, will now await his newest NFL fate following the 49ers’ decision.

49ers Unit are ‘Easy Choice’ for top National Ranking

Even without the UDFA Sori-Marin, the 49ers boast the “easy choice” for the top spot by PFF as the national analytics website unveiled the league’s best LB units on Tuesday ahead of the 2023 season.

“The easy choice for the top spot, San Francisco fielded the highest-graded linebacker group in the NFL last season. They finished second in the NFL in run-defense grade (90.7) and led the NFL with an outstanding 88.5 coverage grade,” PFF’s Dalton Wasserman wrote. “The 49ers boast two legitimate stars in Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw. Warner is the NFL’s most consistent coverage linebacker and posted a career-high 89.7 run-defense grade this past season, too. Greenlaw had a career year in 2022, earning a 79.6 overall grade bolstered by a nearly 20-point jump in coverage grade.”

Wasserman believes this unit also won’t skip a beat even with the departure of one other pivotal presence.

“The group lost situational run defender Azeez Al-Shaair in free agency, but Oren Burks seems poised to take over that role,” Wasserman said. “The 49ers have the best pair of linebackers in football and the depth to fill in if one of them were to suffer a short-term injury. They are the current gold standard at the position.”