3 areas where 49ers DT Javon Kinlaw must improve in 2021

The 49ers received promising play from their rookie defensive tackle, Javon Kinlaw, in 2020. But in order to turn the page, he’ll have to improve in some spots.

The San Francisco 49ers essentially replaced Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner with another first-round NFL Draft pick, South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, in 2020.

And right away, Kinlaw was under immense pressure to pick up where Buckner left off, filling a major void vacated by one of the league’s best interior defenders.

By most accounts, Kinlaw held his own his first year within the pros. While it took him a while to truly impact the stat sheet, one does have to account for the relatively unfair expectations placed upon him in the wake of last year’s Buckner trade while also admitting Kinlaw wasn’t aided by the sheer number of injuries the Niners defensive line suffered over the course of his first year.

Despite those challenges, Kinlaw was still able to put forth a quality rookie campaign, registering 33 total tackles (11th best on the defense) while also adding 1.5 sacks, three tackles for a loss, four quarterback hits and even an interception returned for a touchdown.

Not surprisingly, those showed up in Kinlaw’s rookie-year highlight reel:

Heading into year two, though, Kinlaw’s expected levels of production are going to increase. True, he’ll be aided by a reinforced defensive line, which will include the return of EDGE Nick Bosa from a nearly year-long absence because of an ACL tear. San Francisco’s free-agent pickups of interior defensive linemen like Zach Kerr and Maurice Hurst should also serve to keep Kinlaw fresh, too.

Yet in order for Kinlaw to take those very necessary steps towards becoming a top-caliber defensive lineman, he’ll have to show improvement in the following areas.

No. 3: Javon Kinlaw must be more consistent with pad level

One of the few knocks against Javon Kinlaw, when he was coming out of college, was he frequently had too high a pad level, at least according to NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein.

Kinlaw’s strength and violent tendencies at the line of scrimmage often worked more than well enough, simply overpowering lesser-caliber blockers in front of him en route to creating all kinds of havoc within the pocket.

Yet Kinlaw’s rookie season revealed more than enough evidence this small area of his game still isn’t where it needs to be.

And even though he received credit for half a sack on this play below, Kinlaw’s pad level was too high, to begin with:

In Kinlaw’s defense, he did manage to disengage with his blocker quick enough to take down New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston. But if Winston had evaded the pressure around the edge instead of trying to step through the pocket, Kinlaw would have been too late.

Fortunately, it’s a small adjustment and something defensive line coach Kris Kocurek will surely be emphasizing a lot this upcoming training camp.

No. 2: Javon Kinlaw must play with more body control

Violence at the point of the snap can be a great thing for a defensive lineman, but the best know how to properly hone and distribute hand movement, footwork and rush moves equally well.

For Javon Kinlaw, this is still a work in progress.

Kinlaw’s arm movements — his swim moves, push-offs and power pushes — are certainly there. But at times, much of this is disjointed with his footwork, thereby cutting down on the overall power he’d otherwise be able to deliver when engaging with one or even two blockers at once.

When watching Kinlaw on a down-by-down basis, it can sometimes appear as if he’s almost too violent, taking up too much energy to overwhelm his opponents with an unpredictable array of moves.

It should all start with the footwork, and Kinlaw does have an upper

hand

leg in this regard. The power he’s able to generate from his lower body is without question, only transitioning that effort to well-timed arm movement and counters will eventually turn him into a formidable interior rusher at the point of the attack.

At other times, Kinlaw seemed to get into situations where he shied away from one of his more natural gifts: the bull rush. Perhaps it was the notion he felt sheer brute strength wouldn’t cut it at the NFL level, instead forcing him to rely on finesse a bit more than he was used to, previously.

But that bull rush was deadly at the collegiate level, and he should look to bring a bit more of that back into his skill-set arsenal.

No. 1: Javon Kinlaw must translate pressures into sacks

Javon Kinlaw was a solid, not necessarily explosive sack specialist back at South Carolina, finishing his collegiate career with six sacks his junior year before going pro.

Elite interior pass-rushers, such as Los Angeles Rams perennial All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald, are awfully hard to find. So, again, this is one of those categories where Kinlaw deserves a lot of slack. Like former 49ers defensive end Justin Smith, Kinlaw’s expected level of production might be purely a disruptor and someone who can open up more opportunities for the Niners’ other pass-rushers like Nick Bosa and Samson Ebukam.

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Yet there’s an interesting correlation here to discover another area of possible improvement.

In 2020, according to Pro Football Focus, Kinlaw registered 19 total quarterback pressures on 341 pass-rushing snaps, getting 1.5 sacks in the process, which all equate to a pressure rate of just six percent.

Elite pass-rushers, regardless of position, typically find themselves in the range of 10-plus percent, meaning Kinlaw putting together the skills needed to be a more consistent interior rusher could greatly improve his prowess here.

This is where the previous two improvement areas come into play. If Kinlaw can lower his pad level, thereby driving his blockers deeper into the pocket, that’ll help. So will a more consistent and balanced approach with his pass-rush moves.

So far, many of the elements are there. They just haven’t fully come together yet.

When they do, Kinlaw’s stock value to San Francisco’s defense could skyrocket.