The San Francisco 49ers began OTAs this week without a clear-cut starter at the LEO position. The front office didn’t address the spot in the NFL draft until the sixth round and suggested players already on the roster, specifically Arik Armstead, are candidates for the featured pass rushing role.

Armstead hasn’t won the job yet, though. Fourth-year player Aaron Lynch has reported to 49ers OTAs out of shape but with the intent the coaching staff wants to see.

Coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with media following Tuesday’s practice and said, “(Lynch) came in in the offseason, we challenged him hard with just the way we worked and stuff. He hasn’t shied away from any of it. He’s jumped in on all of our stuff.”

OTAs are first exposure for the coaching staff to see players live. Past coaching mistakes can’t be held against players, but the new regime is surely looking at Lynch to develop into a legitimate force — or risk being shuffled out.

Off-field issues pushed Lynch down draft boards in 2014 after he began his college career at Notre Dame with first-round potential before a myriad of issues led to his transfer to South Florida.

The first two years of his NFL career suggested the 49ers may have found a steal in the fifth round. His 6.0- and 6.5-sack seasons in 2014 and 2015, respectively, made Lynch a candidate to become a core piece through the rebuilding period.

An ankle injury, showing up to training camp overweight and a four-game suspension to start the year contributed to a poor 2016 campaign. The 49ers need to find a legitimate pass rusher, and Lynch is likely the only player on the roster to push Armstead as the starting LEO. Talent was never Lynch’s problem.

The issues with Lynch surround his commitment to the process of losing weight and being a consistently reliable player. The San Francisco defensive front is far from settled, but it’s loaded with talent in three first-round draft selections, free-agent signee Earl Mitchell and the versatile Ronald Blair.

Lynch has the talent, when he’s physically right, to compete as an edge pass rusher on a team that needs to find ways to bother quarterbacks. The 49ers defensive backfield may start two young cornerbacks, Rashard Robinson and Ahkello Witherspoon. A disruptive pass rush could do wonders in covering for their inexperience. Lynch, weight issues and all, has the skill set to be an effective LEO in 2017.

It will be Lynch’s fourth season, making him an unrestricted free agent after next spring. General manager John Lynch has shown he’s comfortable moving on from players that don’t fit into the team’s long-term plans or culture he’s trying curate.

Aaron Lynch could be cut just as easily as he could crack the starting lineup. The coaching staff has a summer to evaluate Lynch’s value to a team searching for a defensive core that could be part of a promising front seven that’s under construction.

San Francisco’s transition to a 4-3 defense helps Lynch more than arguably any player on the roster. Lynch was often outmatched in coverage when asked to play outside linebacker in the previous regimes’ 3-4 schemes. Lynch noted the difference in playing the LEO.

“LEO is a lot of damn fun, so, yeah, I like it a lot,” he told reporters. “You get to set the edge and go get the quarterback.”

The transition to a 4-3 has raised questions about how other defenders like Armstead, first-round selection Solomon Thomas and last year’s first-round pick DeForest Buckner might fit up front.

Lynch, however, can rest comfortably knowing the transition does him favors in removing responsibilities down the field and asking him to simplify his responsibilities as an edge defender.

Competition is the mantra for Shanahan as he enters his first season as coach. Lynch will have an opportunity to show he’s committed to losing weight and performing to standards. He has two months to lose 10-15 pounds.

Armstead is penciled in as the first-team LEO to begin OTAs. But Lynch, in a contract year and with all of the talent necessary, should push to start and potentially save his job with San Francisco. It will be up to him to earn it.