While there will be similarities, the 49ers defense under first-year coordinator DeMeco Ryans won’t be a carbon copy of the one Robert Saleh left behind.
From 2017 through 2020, then-San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh went from a coach who seemed to be on the hot seat to one of the top head-coaching candidates in the NFL heading into 2021.
Saleh, who never served as a coordinator before 2017, gradually implemented adjustments from the Seattle Seahawks-like scheme he first experienced, and those tweaks and changes helped engineer back-to-back top-five defenses in San Francisco over the last two seasons.
Those efforts also resulted in Saleh getting his current job as the New York Jets’ head coach this offseason.
In Saleh’s wake, the 49ers are hoping one of his former assistants, now-defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, can enjoy the same trajectory of success.
Ryans recently met with the media for the first time this offseason, highlighting what he expects from his first year as coordinator and what the rest of the league can look forward to with the defense he inherited from Saleh:
"Our defense will be a fast, attacking aggressive defense. I want guys who are fast, who smart, who are physical. … Growing up watching the 49ers play defense, the defense always stood out here. We want to continue that tradition of playing aggressive defense."
It’s a lot of “coachspeak.” Who, as a coordinator or coach, wouldn’t want their defenses to be fast, smart and physical?
“You will see some wrinkles. You will see my brand of football on it,” Ryans added. “We will be a more aggressive, attacking defense.”
Still, there are some indicators and takeaways pointing out some possible changes to what fans saw under Saleh the last four years and what they may see under Ryans this upcoming season.
Here are three to look out for.
No. 3: 49ers may employ much more Cover 4 looks
For the bulk of Robert Saleh’s tenure, the Niners used a Cover 3 scheme with a single-high safety, two boundary zone cornerbacks and the strong safety down in the box. This approach generally works when defenses have elite-level pass-rushers and high-caliber defensive backs, yet San Francisco lacked those in Saleh’s first two years.
So it’s no surprise he employed more traditional Cover 2 looks with his safeties being more interchangeable.
To guard against some of the more wide-open offenses the 49ers may encounter, particularly from the Arizona Cardinals, DeMeco Ryans may try to use more Cover 4 looks with the two safeties (Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt) being responsible for the areas around the hash marks, while the boundary corners handle duties outside of the numbers.
For a quick understanding on the varients of Cover 4 schemes, check out this breakdown from Bleacher Report.
This takes the pressure off the safeties, which might be a bonus, given Ward and Tartt’s injury histories, yet without asking cornerbacks to cover too much ground — another added need, given the fact the Niners added two rookies here this offseason, Ambry Thomas and Deommodore Lenoir.
The trick, however, is having an elite-level MIKE linebacker to cover those crucial over-the-middle spots of the field where quarterbacks love to target.
Fortunately, San Francisco has arguably the best in the NFL in Fred Warner, and it wouldn’t be shocking at all to see Ryans maximize Warner’s pass-coverage skills in this way.
No. 2: 49ers may use less zone, more press-man coverage
Still free-agent cornerback Richard Sherman was an epitome of a zone-style cornerback. While it’s possible the 49ers entertain bringing him back, the two additions of Ambry Thomas and Deommodore Lenoir signify a possible defensive shift away from the zone schemes Robert Saleh so often used over the last four years.
Both Thomas and Lenoir were primarily press-man corners at the collegiate level, playing up against the line of scrimmage to bump opposing wide receivers off their routes, then doing their best to stay lockstep in line with them throughout the remainder of their routes.
Read More: 3 things to expect from rookie corner Deommodore Lenoir
Going back to DeMeco Ryans’ opening comments, this is one of the ways the Niners defense can be more physical.
Merely bumping a wide receiver off of his route is a great way for undersized corners, such as Lenoir, Jason Verrett and Emmanuel Moseley, to guard against bigger-bodied pass-catchers instead of having to converge within a zone-style system. There also tends to be less hand-off from one defensive back to another, typical in zone coverages.
In man schemes, defensive backs usually just stay with their assigned receivers.
The problem, though, is a pass rush has to be just as good to ensure defensive backs don’t stay in coverage for too long a period, leading to another change Ryans is likely to implement.
No. 1: DeMeco Ryans likely asks 49ers to blitz a lot
In 2019, San Francisco had an elite four-man pass rush, which allowed Robert Saleh to drop as many as seven defenders back into coverage. But after losing EDGEs Nick Bosa and Dee Ford to season-ending injuries earlier in 2020, Saleh was required to blitz a lot more to make up for the lack of pure pass-rushers and to account for the general lack of overall speed on the defensive line.
San Francisco 49ers
The differences in 49ers blitzing efforts from 2017 through 2020 tell this story:
- 2017 blitz percentage: 22.4 percent (20th)
- 2018 blitz percentage: 20.4 percent (22nd)
- 2019 blitz percentage: 20.9 percent (29th)
- 2020 blitz percentage: 33.6 percent (10th)
Bosa is expected to be back fully healthy from his 2020 ACL tear, but Ford’s status remains in doubt. Perhaps EDGE Samson Ebukam, brought in as a free agent, helps fill the void.
But there’s just as good a chance DeMeco Ryans relies a lot more on the blitz than Saleh did his first three years with the Niners.
One possible indicator is San Francisco’s fifth-round draft addition, USC safety Talanoa Hufanga, whose impressive four interceptions in 2020 over six games called out his pass-coverage skills. Lost in the discussion somewhat, however, is the fact he also recorded 6.5 sacks over the last two seasons as an in-the-box blitzer, suggesting he could be a situational pass-rusher right out of the gate.
While Ryans’ blitz percentage might not need to be as high as the 49ers showcased a year ago, thanks largely to Bosa being back, one might expect it to be much higher than it was between 2017 and 2019.