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With the third round of OTAs underway, Robert Saleh’s 4-3, Cover-3 defense is back and primed for analysis. The mind behind the 49ers much-maligned and much-discussed defense has broken down his defensive schemes at length over the past two seasons, prompting potentially higher expectations than might have been reasonable.
Saleh’s hopes have been stifled by a combination of poor health, youth, and position changes which have limited defensive comprehension, and bad fits or in many cases, a lack of performance.
On May 29, Saleh discussed this defense, which has been fully revamped and replenished with a younger, more dynamic pool of talent, especially at the front – that’s the theory, at least. With the addition of No. 2 overall pick in Nick Bosa and an established pass-rusher in Dee Ford, the 49ers have suddenly acquired a bona fide edge-rushing threat they’ve not had since the Justin and Aldon Smith combo. Granted, Bosa has yet to play a snap (and hasn’t played in well over a year), but he projects to be a star.
Those additions, poised to slot alongside DeForest Buckner, Arik Armstead and Solomon Thomas (who has come back this season with a renewed focus after the death of his sister last year, and clearer sense of positioning, with more time likely to be spent in the 3-technique), have the potential to give the 49ers one of the most dominant front fours in the NFL.
The question, of course, is how do you best use this talent? Is it with more “wide-nine” packages to allow Ford to rush from an exposed spot on the edge, or shift Thomas or Armstead and Buckner to different slots on the line with varying under/over schemes?
For Saleh, the answer is sort of a ‘yes to all of the above’, but at its core, the defense will remain the same. What is likely, if not certain, is that the 49ers will look to mix up different schemes and provide their pass-rushers with different looks to ideally confuse and challenge offensive lines.
“We might look different, but philosophically, the overall foundation of the defense hasn’t changed,” Saleh said.
Saleh said the change in look will revolve around putting more defenders behind the ball and moving the strong (SAM) linebacker off the ball. He made clear that he’s optimistic about the team’s front.
“Our front has a chance to be special,” Saleh said. “They know it. With great expectations, usually, people rise to the level to those expectations. It’s like telling an offense to get by without a good quarterback. Our front is everything.”
Saleh is bullish on both Thomas and Armstead, who, if they stay healthy and continue their early progress (both massive “ifs”) spurred on by first-year defensive line coach Kris Kocurek (who’s made a promising impact on the line in the early going) could add another dimension to the team’s front.
“To have the speed element along with [Nick] Bosa’s power and technical side and then the inside guys that we have. Solomon’s [Thomas] been looking really, really good,” Saleh said. “So, his versatility, being able to go inside, outside is going to come to fruition the way we’ve envisioned it. Same thing with [Arik] Armstead. It’s a very talented group and the versatility that it’s had has only been, will finally be able to come to light because of the fact that you’ve got [DL] Dee Ford and Bosa to be able to fill out the edges.”
Saleh declined to specify whether Armstead would slot into Bosa’s edge role. At this point in the early summer, Saleh said, “Right now, with OTAs we’re just trying to make sure that everybody’s getting reps.”
Dee Ford said May 21 that he projects he and Bosa will switch sides throughout the season, despite Ford’s preference to rush from the left side, and Bosa’s preference is to rush from the right.
“The defense might cause you to play a different side, or the offensive tackle, you might match up better against,” Ford said. “It all depends, but great rushers can rush on either side.”
That seems to be the M.O. for the front early on; get players reps in a variety of techniques, in a variety of roles. As for the secondary, that’s been the case too, but maybe not as intentionally. With Jimmie Ward’s rib injury, Tarvarius Moore, who played corner in his first season, but was a safety at the University of Southern Mississippi, is back at the free safety position for the time being.
Saleh was optimistic about an improvement in the secondary, with Richard Sherman anchoring the group. He expects growth from Ahkello Witherspoon, and was positive about a “chomping at the bit” Jason Verrett, who Saleh described as a “top-20” corner in the NFL when healthy. Both look the most poised to battle for the opposing starting corner spot, with K’Waun Williams likely to line up as the nickel corner in nickel packages.
The obvious, overwhelming issue last season, was blown coverages, often due to miscommunications and misunderstandings by safeties. It’s impossible to forget the blown coverages in Week 5 and 6, which we outlined here.
So, the question was put to Saleh on communication and continuity at the safety position. He spoke generally about last season’s lack of continuity but answered more about the importance of continuity and communication.
“The continuity, not only with yourself to be confident and do the same thing over, over, and over again, but then to be able to project your voice so that way the person in front of you knows what you’re doing, you’re able to talk to the corners, and there’s just overall communication,” Saleh said. “That’s always very, very important, especially in a scheme like ours where we may not do very much, but we are always talking to one another about formation, indicators, and the subtle adjustments that we make to put ourselves in the best position to succeed.”