The 49ers didn’t exactly walk into the season with a luxury package on defense. They’ve been hammered by injuries up front, leaned on a secondary that was uneven a year ago, and asked a bunch of younger players to take on real responsibility. Through five games, though, Raheem Morris has made the whole thing look a lot cleaner than anyone had a right to expect.
That’s why the early returns on San Francisco’s new defensive coordinator have been so strong. The Niners have been through this cycle before in the Kyle Shanahan era - Robert Saleh came in and became a head coach twice, DeMeco Ryans quickly turned into a standout coordinator, and then the team hit rougher stretches with Steve Wilks and Nick Sorensen before Saleh’s second stint last season. This time, Shanahan and Co. landed on Morris, a familiar face from their Atlanta and Washington days a decade ago.
Morris came in with a long résumé. He’d been in football since 1998, had already been a head coach twice, and had plenty of experience calling plays.
Even so, there were some early concerns that the scheme change could create growing pains. Instead, the opposite has happened.
San Francisco’s defense has looked fast, confident and organized, even while the roster has been patched together.
“It doesn’t surprise me with Raheem,” Kyle Shanahan said this week. “I’ve just been around him for too long.
He’s one of the best people and best coaches I’ve ever been around. I tried to bring him here originally when I left Atlanta.
They wouldn’t let him out.
“So, it’s been a long time coming to get him here. He’s done an unbelievable job this year, especially with the injuries, but just overall everything he’s mixed up schematically.
I love the confidence he’s given our DBs and the way they’ve been playing since training camp. He’s had a real huge effect on this team and we’re very lucky to have him.”
The numbers back up the eye test. Even with games against the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks in the first five weeks, the 49ers rank third in EPA allowed per play, third in points allowed per game and sixth in yards allowed per game.
That comes with a defensive line that has been hit hard. San Francisco has missed Nick Bosa, Mykel Williams, Alfred Collins, Sam Okuayinonu, CJ West and others for stretches, forcing the team to keep leaning on players who arrived in training camp or later just to fill meaningful snaps. And yet the production has kept coming.
Osa Odighizuwa has given the group a solid interior presence, leading the team with 15 pressures and a 12.8 pass-rush win rate. Keion White, the former New England second-round pick, has been one of the surprises of the season, sitting second on the team with 13 pressures and adding eight defensive stops, which ranks fourth on the team.
The rookie class has chipped in, too. Gracen Halton is improving every week, and his best showing came against Seattle, when he posted three pressures, three defensive stops and a forced fumble. Romello Height and Jaden Dugger also delivered quality performances in Week 5.
Behind them, Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw have both played at a high level, with Warner looking like a Defensive Player of the Year candidate again even after a major injury.
And in the back end, the secondary has been better than expected. Renardo Green and Malik Mustapha are turning in the best seasons of their careers, and the group as a whole has held up well in coverage while playing with the kind of confidence Shanahan pointed to.
Morris has also kept opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable with his blitz packages. But the biggest thing seems to be how simple he’s kept the defense, letting players process faster and play looser. That has shown up in the way the 49ers are flying to the ball, defending the pass and generating 17 pressures a game despite everything stacked against them.
For now, that’s what stands out most: relative to the standard San Francisco has set with its last few coordinators, Morris has matched the bar - and then some.
In Other News...
49ers Receiver Crisis May Not Push John Lynch Into A Trade
The 49ers have spent the first month navigating a receiver group thinned by injuries to Deebo Samuel, De'Zhaun Stribling, Demarcus Robinson, Christian Kirk and Ricky Pearsall, yet the offense has kept rolling anyway. At 5-0 and holding a 2.5-game lead in the NFC West, San Francisco has given John Lynch a rare kind of roster problem: a glaring need on paper for help, but a team position that makes urgency harder to read.
Lynch is still weighing trade possibilities, but the timing may work against a quick splash move. With San Francisco heading toward its Week 8 bye and several of those injured receivers expected back not long after, an immediate addition could wind up looking more like a short-term patch than a real answer, which is why the front office may be content to wait and see how the lineup settles before paying a premium. [Read more 🡒]
49ers' Hot Start Can't Hide One Big Mykel Williams Concern
The 49ers kept rolling in their Week 5 win over Seattle and moved to 5-0, but the return of Mykel Williams did not quite match the optimism surrounding his season debut. Working back from an ACL injury, the edge rusher was eased in and logged 23 snaps, a modest workload for a player the team has been counting on to help sharpen a defense that has otherwise been getting more from several of its other contributors.
Williams' slow start only adds to the scrutiny that has followed him since he arrived as the 11th overall pick. He flashed enough as a rookie to justify the investment, but the production has been thin and the early look after recovery did little to change the conversation, leaving his role one of the more interesting questions on a defense that has mostly had answers elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Defense Faces A Real Test With Washington Up Next
Washingtons recent film gives San Francisco plenty to sort through before Monday night, starting with a Commanders front that has been doing its part to keep opposing offenses uncomfortable. Sonny Styles has been a notable presence up front, and the group has gotten a boost from the offensive line as well, with Lucas Patrick added and Sam Cosmi back in the mix. For a 49ers defense that has been looking for a clean test, this is the kind of matchup that can expose whether the run fits, gap discipline and tackling have really tightened up.
The challenge lands in an even more interesting spot because San Francisco is already managing a key absence in the middle of its defense, and the next man up picture matters here. The 49ers have been sorting through how to replace Dre Greenlaw and how much they can ask of a young linebacker group in a game that figures to feature plenty of physical play and more than a few chances for Brock Purdy, Jacob Cowing and Mykel Williams to shape the night from their own side of the ball. [Read more 🡒]