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5 burning questions facing DeMeco Ryans, 49ers defense in 2021

By Peter Panacy

Fred Warner #48 and Inside Linebackers Coach DeMeco Ryans of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
Fred Warner #48 and Inside Linebackers Coach DeMeco Ryans of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) /
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Fred Warner, Russell Wilson, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks
Fred Warner #54 of the San Francisco 49ers sacks Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) /

No. 1: Will DeMeco Ryans, 49ers be a blitz-happy team?

In three of the four years under Robert Saleh, San Francisco wasn’t a blitz-heavy team. Only in 2020, thanks to injuries to players like Nick Bosa and Dee Ford, did Saleh implement more blitz-heavy packages:

  • 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)

Read More: 4 changes DeMeco Ryans may implement with 49ers defense

A four-man pass rush was Saleh’s proverbial “bread and butter,” but that might not be the case for DeMeco Ryans, a former linebacker, who had 13.5 sacks over his 10-year career and would probably have liked a few more.

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Ryans has a blitz-threatening linebacker in Fred Warner, who flashed those efforts the last two seasons, while Talanoa Hufanga also managed 6.5 sacks as a strong-side safety his last two collegiate years.

Ryans might have hinted at some changes during his introductory press conference, too:

"Our D-Line is going to attack. Our linebackers and secondary, they’re going to play with base fundamentals. We’re going to play off our defensive line. We’re going to let our D-Line just get off the ball and attack, and we’re going to clean up things behind them, but we will be a more, I feel like aggressive, attacking defense."

Translating the coachspeak, it appears as if Ryans is looking to settle somewhere between the four-man dominant pass rush from 2017 through 2019 and the excessive-but-understandable blitzing tendencies from a year ago.

Or, just as possibly, Ryans is concealing his intention to use pressure from all areas of the field, including sending Warner on more than a fair share of well-time blitzes.

If it works out, Ryans and the 49ers defense can hopefully pick up where Saleh left off.

Next. 3 reasons why Jimmy Garoppolo is a Pro Bowler in 2021. dark