49ers search for a pass rush
Reuben Foster’s dismissal by the San Francisco 49ers has created a giant hole in the defense.
Maybe two, depending upon the direction the organization wants to take in the wake of the arrest-related termination.
The 49ers expected to have a solid front seven this season, led by three former first-round picks in the front four and Foster anchoring the linebacking crew.
The perceived depth of talent up front, no doubt, helped convince the 49ers that the same 4-3 scheme that produced the league’s 24th-ranked defense last season could improve in 2018 without major changes.
On a unit that was equally below-average in both rushing (22nd) and passing (22nd) last season, the biggest issue: An inability to get to the quarterback. The 49ers totaled just 30 sacks, tied for the sixth-fewest in the NFL.
One year later, most numbers say the 49ers have improved on defense. They currently rank 11th overall, 10th against the run and 17th against the pass.
The problem is: Those numbers have produced a defense that’s allowed the eighth-most points in the league.
How is that possible? It sure isn’t because of the run defense, which has been aided by the drafting of middle linebacker Fred Warner.
But being led into an NFL games these days by a strong run defense is a little like bringing the world’s best swordsmen into a nuclear war. For the most part, it hasn’t mattered.
The 49ers remain among the league’s worst in sacks with just 26 in 11 games.
And with no pressure, fewer offensive mistakes are created. The 49ers have intercepted just two passes all season, which is about one-fifth of the league average.
So what’s an organization to do?
Most analysts who have gone on record have the 49ers using their high draft pick on a pass-rushing defensive end in a year when several defensive linemen are perceived to be worthy of a high pick.
But now that Foster is gone, you could argue the void left at outside linebacker is as big as any in the San Francisco defense.
So why not attempt to kill two birds with one stone and draft a pass-rushing linebacker?
Here’s why: Because the current defensive coordinator, Robert Saleh, runs a 4-3.
That can change. The coordinator AND the alignment, that is.
All because Reuben Foster got arrested.
SERIES HISTORY: 39th regular-season meeting. Seahawks lead series, 23-15. Seattle has won eight in a row in the regular season, nine overall if you count their 23-17 win in the NFC Championship Game at the end of the 2013 season. The 49ers’ last win in the series came at home, 19-17 in Week 14 of that same 2013 season. Their last win at Seattle was by that same score, 19-17, in Week 16 of the 2011 season.
