Defensive Line Thread

Originally posted by CornellU49er:
Agree fully. I like our D Line when fully healthy but we need to continue investing to build low cost quality depth/rotation that fits the scheme. Thought they were playing well early in the season. Expect even better as West and Collins emerge next year.

I think Huff is a great addition as situation speed rusher in NASCAR package. We saw that early in the year. That should be his only role. The moment he had to step in as a base down DE it fell apart. Terrible scheme fit.

Question is, who will be our 2 rotational DEs behind Bosa and Mykel next season - that are big and fit the scheme? YGM + draft pick?

Can we move off of Jordan Elliott and ride with Kalia Davis, Evan A, + draft pick at DT behind West and Collins?

Theres a reason Huff was deemed unstartable by Fangio and benched. It was the run game. It was just a lot more obvious in a 3-4 Fangio scheme

but injuries def contributed to Huff playing so much on run downs. he was supposed to only be a pass rush specialist.

Originally posted by MBNINER90266:

Originally posted by BYisGod:

Originally posted by pillageDatazz:

Originally posted by _Goldblooded_:
It looked good when Collins and West were in.

Elliot was crushed by double teams.

Elliot still hobbled with injury, but I bet Evan Anderson could do a better job at handling double teams, he showed it last year

Not Saleh's guy. That's the issue.

And where was Valdez with all the injuries to the line? He looked good in preseason? I think it's the same thing. Saleh, like Shanahan, like to play favorites over ability. I get it, they know the scheme, but sometimes sheer talent/ physical abilityhas to outweigh that? Or at least give guys some time to see?

I hope the next DC is better than Saleh in plenty of ways...

I thought it would be a fun exercise to look and see if our 1.2 sack per game number was in any way historic. So I went back and looked through the last decade or so at the bottom teams in sack production.

And it turns out the answer is no, we were not at the very bottom of the list. There were a few teams that averaged 1.1 sacks per game. I saw Atlanta's name there a couple times. The lowest I saw was .8 sacks per game by the Raiders during the 20 teens.

So we weren't the absolute worst over the last 10-15 years. But we're definitely in the bottom 10 over that time. It's interesting that we were probably the best team in terms of record to have that kind of horrible performance. By a mile.

I don't know what that means. If anyone's interested I can print the stats. I looked it up on teamrankings.com

I hope John Lynch and the 49ers' front office is taking notes after seeing what the Seahawks pass rush did. They didn't have a DL star—they had depth. Multiple guys who could win 1-on-1, play selflessly, and create pressure within the scheme. The 49ers have Nick Bosa and that's it. When he went down, the pass rush went with him because everything was built around one player. It's not about finding an "edge #2" or trading for Maxx Crosby. They need to have multiple guys who can win so the whole unit doesn't collapse.

The roster in general is in the midst of an overhaul. The injuries and overachieving 2025 team record masked that a bit, but it was a rebuild/restock/youth movement/cap health season (or whatever one wants to call it), which is obviously going to see more overhaul this offseason.

Originally posted by captveg:
The roster in general is in the midst of an overhaul. The injuries and overachieving 2025 team record masked that a bit, but it was a rebuild/restock/youth movement/cap health season (or whatever one wants to call it), which is obviously going to see more overhaul this offseason.

They need to draft better regardless. Too many misses and that catches up to you. They certainly don't ignore d-line, but so many of the guys they drafted didn't pan out or underachieved.

Originally posted by Cisco0623:

Originally posted by captveg:
The roster in general is in the midst of an overhaul. The injuries and overachieving 2025 team record masked that a bit, but it was a rebuild/restock/youth movement/cap health season (or whatever one wants to call it), which is obviously going to see more overhaul this offseason.

They need to draft better regardless. Too many misses and that catches up to you. They certainly don't ignore d-line, but so many of the guys they drafted didn't pan out or underachieved.

I would actually argue that all three DL we drafted last year and even Huff were fine. Obviously Mykel tearing his ACL didn't help matters.

Javon Kinlaw, Drake Jackson and Javon Hargrave were all trash moves that set us back though. Those moves hurt us more in the long run than Bosa/Mykel tearing their ACL's IMO.

Who can be our next Justin Smith

Of course we want John Franklin-Myers (if available)

What about some Rashan Gary https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/could-sign-rashan-gary-if-released/

Keion White Lite

Someone brought up Greg Gaines, I think he played for Raheem Morris too:



Wouldn't mind the signing and I doubt he'll ask for a crazy number.

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Someone brought up Greg Gaines, I think he played for Raheem Morris too:



Wouldn't mind the signing and I doubt he'll ask for a crazy number.

Some folks with Raheem Morris ties that shouldn't break the bank:

- Greg Gaines - DT/NT - Bucs
- Sebastian Joseph Day - DT/NT - Titans
- David Onyemata - DT/NT - Falcons
- Samson Ebukam - EDGE - Colts
- Arnold Ebiketie - EDGE - Falcons


All above players are depth signings and shouldn't reduce the chances of double dipping in the draft.

Originally posted by Fanaticofnfl:

Originally posted by Cisco0623:

Originally posted by captveg:
The roster in general is in the midst of an overhaul. The injuries and overachieving 2025 team record masked that a bit, but it was a rebuild/restock/youth movement/cap health season (or whatever one wants to call it), which is obviously going to see more overhaul this offseason.

They need to draft better regardless. Too many misses and that catches up to you. They certainly don't ignore d-line, but so many of the guys they drafted didn't pan out or underachieved.

I would actually argue that all three DL we drafted last year and even Huff were fine. Obviously Mykel tearing his ACL didn't help matters.

Javon Kinlaw, Drake Jackson and Javon Hargrave were all trash moves that set us back though. Those moves hurt us more in the long run than Bosa/Mykel tearing their ACL's IMO.

For sure previous picks were horrible. So far aside Bosa and DJ Jones they really haven't drafted d line well. I do like last years picks as we def improved the run defense, which was priority one, but once Bosa went down the pass rush looked like you and me out there. Huff should do better if they all come back healthy and he can specialize on third downs, but you better believe I am drafting another pass rusher(s) this year.