Every team in the NFL knows how valuable good depth is and last year, the San Francisco 49ers experienced firsthand how injuries can hurt a season. Especially when foundational players are involved.

Fred Warner’s season-ending ankle injury gutted the second level of the defense, as expected. Warner is arguably the NFL’s best linebacker and he allows whomever is calling the defense a world of variety when it comes to what they can deploy. Warner’s ability to play the pass, run, and blitz at a high level is what every defensive coordinator is looking for out of a linebacker.

That’s why the latest news surrounding fifth-round rookie Jaden Dugger is so encouraging for San Francisco.

Per The Athletic’s Matt Barrows, Dugger has turned heads during spring practices while veteran linebacker Luke Gifford misses time with a concussion:

Veteran linebacker Luke Gifford suffered a concussion early in OTAs, which allowed rookie Jaden Dugger to take snaps at strongside linebacker. Coaches cautioned that the fifth-round pick out of Louisiana is raw and has plenty to learn. Still, Dugger’s gifts — he’s the 49ers’ tallest, longest and fastest linebacker — were on display this spring, and position coach K.J. Wright raved about how quickly Dugger is picking up the defense.

With a Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Rams and their three-tight end sets looming, Dugger is a dark horse to get playing time early in the season

For Dugger himself, it’s a significant development because he’s currently one of eight off-ball linebackers on the 49ers roster. NFL teams usually don’t carry more than four off-ball linebackers on the 53-man roster and when considering Dre Greenlaw and Warner himself are holding down the top-2 spots – it’s easy to see why the odds are against Dugger.

Regardless, he is taking advantage of the opportunity in front of him and it can help him defy said odds.

Dugger’s quickest path to the 49ers roster is clear

Yes, teams are likely to use more linebackers thanks to the rise of 13 personnel as Barrows notes. But the clear and most effective path for Dugger to make the roster is through special teams play.

A lot of backup linebackers play ‘teams and that’s certainly the case for the new kickoff rules, these days. The good news is he did just that during his college career: Per PFF, he played 368 ST snaps over four seasons and was in on four of the six phases.

That’s how Dugger makes the team. Sure, he needs to keep it up on the practice field in terms of the linebacker position, but no one is supplanting Greenlaw and/or Warner without a legendary training camp run. Therefore, ‘teams is the way.

A win-win for San Francisco’s defense

Either way, the 49ers find themselves in a good spot no matter how this plays out. If Dugger continues to ascend, they’ll have a young potential playmaker on their hands providing quality depth at a position that was hit hard a year ago. And if Gifford bounces back healthy, resumes his spot on the depth chart, and Dugger keeps developing alongside him, then San Francisco has two quality linebackers back in the mix to help avoid a repeat of last year’s injury disaster.

Dugger’s early progress suggests the front office may have found some insurance in the fifth round, and the fact he’s already drawing attention from coaches and reporters alike is a good sign for where his development is headed.