How good is the 49ers Defense?

Not that great we need to upgrade the Cornerback position along with a couple of pure bread pass rushers..............if we cant replace Aubrayo Franklin then will take more of a step backwards on defense meaning the offense will really have to step it up this year to at least stay semi competitive

The loss of Franklin is being a bit over-exagerated. He is a good run stuffing NT, and has led us to be one of the better run defenses in the league. However, stopping the run doesn't hold the same value as it did a few years ago. Add to the fact we still have ICE and RJF, the drop off shouldn't be all that dramatic. There aren't any monster O-lines in our division and we still have one of the top ILB tandems in the league to compensate. IMO the additional cap space may improve our defense as we can spend more on some quality DB's.

Another thing to consider is that with a less conservative offense we should be puttin up more than 17 points a game... hopefully forcing opponents into more passing situations making the loss of Franklin even less substantial.

Do you guys think Fangio is lazy? Think about it. He has a horrible track record in the NFL, he has been quoted as saying he doesn't need to look at film on the players (exact opposite of Harbaugh) and none of his defensive guys have a playbook (Again, unlike Harbaugh). He just comes off us unprepaired.

I still would of rather kept Manusky. I think with a reasonably improved offense, we could of made the playoffs. Our D wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.

Originally posted by Oakland-Niner:
We are going to be a lot worst without Lawson, watch. Brooks/Laboy and Haralson aren't every good at anything, including rushing the passer.

Very True. Lawson is much better than the credit that he gets and is one of the few true play makers on the team. He plays the run and pass well and despite not playing on passing downs and playing next to SOAP who gets no penetration, he was one of the sack leaders on the team. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more important that Goldsten who is very over rated on this board.

Originally posted by 5280High:
The loss of Franklin is being a bit over-exagerated. He is a good run stuffing NT, and has led us to be one of the better run defenses in the league. However, stopping the run doesn't hold the same value as it did a few years ago. Add to the fact we still have ICE and RJF, the drop off shouldn't be all that dramatic. There aren't any monster O-lines in our division and we still have one of the top ILB tandems in the league to compensate. IMO the additional cap space may improve our defense as we can spend more on some quality DB's.

Another thing to consider is that with a less conservative offense we should be puttin up more than 17 points a game... hopefully forcing opponents into more passing situations making the loss of Franklin even less substantial.

Franklin is widely recognized by his peers as one of the best at his position, also you are forgetting that one of the main reasons we have MLBs that put up great numbers is because Franklin is eating up blockers that would be able to otherwise slow the rush. We are likely going to lose him to an outrageous contract offer from Washington, and if we do, everyone will realize he was an important part of the defense. We have to pray that he will stay or that one of the guys to replace him grows up fast.

Originally posted by Memphis9er:

Originally posted by 5280High:
The loss of Franklin is being a bit over-exagerated. He is a good run stuffing NT, and has led us to be one of the better run defenses in the league. However, stopping the run doesn't hold the same value as it did a few years ago. Add to the fact we still have ICE and RJF, the drop off shouldn't be all that dramatic. There aren't any monster O-lines in our division and we still have one of the top ILB tandems in the league to compensate. IMO the additional cap space may improve our defense as we can spend more on some quality DB's.

Another thing to consider is that with a less conservative offense we should be puttin up more than 17 points a game... hopefully forcing opponents into more passing situations making the loss of Franklin even less substantial.

Franklin is widely recognized by his peers as one of the best at his position, also you are forgetting that one of the main reasons we have MLBs that put up great numbers is because Franklin is eating up blockers that would be able to otherwise slow the rush. We are likely going to lose him to an outrageous contract offer from Washington, and if we do, everyone will realize he was an important part of the defense. We have to pray that he will stay or that one of the guys to replace him grows up fast.

True and true. While Franklin is a very good one-gap NT (and he chooses those gaps correctly most of the time) he also is replaceable as one-gap NT's are not hard to find. Now a two-gap NT is very hard to find. I wouldn't say Franklin eats up blockers in any way but he is good at shooting the correct gaps and disrupting the RB/running-play enough to allow the Lbers to make the play. I never got the impression Sopoaga was asked to "attack" the backfield, rather than hold the point, seal the edge and allow Manny and others to complete the play. I would love to keep Sopoaga at LDE but in an attacking/penetrating mode. But if he is moved back to NT, I hope they allow him to use his quickness and athleticism to shoot gaps, attack and penetrate to not only disrupt RB's in the backfield but also disallow the QB the easy pocket to step up into which we've seen as a staple for the past 5+ years! RJF could also end up being a god one-gap NT as well. Tomsula and Fangio will be able to recognize what they have instantly and should play to our strengths. There won't be much of a drop off at all at the NT position and some team like Washington is going to highly overpay for a one-gap DT; Franklin will still do well though esp. in a 4-3 but he's not worth the $ IMHO.

prettttay pretttay good

Originally posted by NCommand:


True and true. While Franklin is a very good one-gap NT (and he chooses those gaps correctly most of the time) he also is replaceable as one-gap NT's are not hard to find. Now a two-gap NT is very hard to find. I wouldn't say Franklin eats up blockers in any way but he is good at shooting the correct gaps and disrupting the RB/running-play enough to allow the Lbers to make the play. I never got the impression Sopoaga was asked to "attack" the backfield, rather than hold the point, seal the edge and allow Manny and others to complete the play. I would love to keep Sopoaga at LDE but in an attacking/penetrating mode. But if he is moved back to NT, I hope they allow him to use his quickness and athleticism to shoot gaps, attack and penetrate to not only disrupt RB's in the backfield but also disallow the QB the easy pocket to step up into which we've seen as a staple for the past 5+ years! RJF could also end up being a god one-gap NT as well. Tomsula and Fangio will be able to recognize what they have instantly and should play to our strengths. There won't be much of a drop off at all at the NT position and some team like Washington is going to highly overpay for a one-gap DT; Franklin will still do well though esp. in a 4-3 but he's not worth the $ IMHO.

Big fan of you both ( Memphis + NC ), but I agree with all of this from NC. If we KNEW we could get top effort from Franklin after signing a long-term deal? Then yeah, he would be worth keeping around for reasonable money. I don't think he will give his all, accept reasonable money, and I think he will start coming up with phantom injuries. With what Fangio likely has in mind, I don't think we would lose anything extreme going from Franklin to Sopoaga. We might even gain some interior pass rush. Franklin offers nothing in terms of pass rush, and I expect Sopoaga to give us something there to help collapse that interior QB pocket.

... and Curb Your Enthusiasm is another fantastic show!

Slice it howeveryou want but this defense is going to take a major hit with Manny Lawson not returning. The worst decision from the front office in 5 years in regards to 'letting players walk'. I love the front office moves whensigning outside free agents, but damn we resigned the wrong f**king OLB.

SAY GOODBYE to the run defense that compared to the Ravens, because Willis can't do it all himself. Because Aldon might not be ready yet in run support.

I am disgusted York and Baalke didnt see how big Lawson was to our defensive accomplishments

We still need corners.

Originally posted by SFL49ER:
Slice it howeveryou want but this defense is going to take a major hit with Manny Lawson not returning. The worst decision from the front office in 5 years in regards to 'letting players walk'. I love the front office moves whensigning outside free agents, but damn we resigned the wrong f**king OLB.

SAY GOODBYE to the run defense that compared to the Ravens, because Willis can't do it all himself. Because Aldon might not be ready yet in run support.

I am disgusted York and Baalke didnt see how big Lawson was to our defensive accomplishments

Maybe they see decent potential in Thaddeus Gibson and/or Ahmad Brooks? IDK, just trying not to envision another year of Parys Haralson losing run contain and always arriving 2 steps too late for a sack.

We need another LB losing Manny Lawson will hurt, Losing our bad ass NT, and Spikes is older. I expect a drop in our defense. I mean we have two safeties that can't cover... and NONE of our defensive players have a damn playbook and they have barely over a month to learn an entire new defense....WE ARE f**kED

Originally posted by cali49er86:
We still need corners.

I'm thinking that getting Nahmdi is a real possibility. This is wishfull thinking, of course...man it would be great though!

Originally posted by SFL49ER:
Slice it howeveryou want but this defense is going to take a major hit with Manny Lawson not returning. The worst decision from the front office in 5 years in regards to 'letting players walk'. I love the front office moves whensigning outside free agents, but damn we resigned the wrong f**king OLB.

SAY GOODBYE to the run defense that compared to the Ravens, because Willis can't do it all himself. Because Aldon might not be ready yet in run support.

I am disgusted York and Baalke didnt see how big Lawson was to our defensive accomplishments

First of all...free agency hasn't started yet so we don't know whether they will let him walk or not.

Second I'm sure they'd like to keep him but he'll probably want a lot more money than he's worth to THIS team. I love Manny and will always support him as long as he's not facing the 49ers but as a 3-4 OLB he has been a disappointment as a pass rusher which is crutial to this team. If he asks for too much money they'll have to let him go.