rudyZ Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 2 hours ago, NcFinest9erFan said: I think He and Thomas are the two reasons why I'm warming up to the idea that we could pick Harold Landry. Yes, Landry uses a speed rush more times than not but if he's one on one with a tackle, I can live with it. At the very least, all we need is a clean up guy, and that's where a speed rusher would be really nice. Maybe it will be Sneeze. Maybe a rookie. And maybe, as big9er alluded to, it will come from an improved SAM backer, just cleaning up the mess created by Thomas and Buck. If we happen to get an edge rusher who is productive in his own right, then that will only get our interior guys' sack totals to rise. Also, hopefully improving the secondary with Sherman, and perhaps a talented rookie, along with a more experienced Spoon, will give an extra fraction of a second to convert pressures and hits into sacks, and perhaps fumbles too. Imagine how much more potent we could be with only a healthy amount of turnovers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N4L Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 10 hours ago, NcFinest9erFan said: I think He and Thomas are the two reasons why I'm warming up to the idea that we could pick Harold Landry. Yes, Landry uses a speed rush more times than not but if he's one on one with a tackle, I can live with it. Not only that, but going around the edge will force guys to step up into the middle, or bail out of the pocket completely. I definitely want to see Buckner start to launch himself at QBs mid section. Some guys have that extra explosive step where they bend their hips and thrust from their calves/toes at the last second, almost like a cobra biting it's prey. Aldon Smith was amazing at this. With Buckner's wingspan if he launched himself at guys he should be able to wrap up even if he misfires or if they move at the last second. That's the crazy thing, he has made so many dominant plays and yet he hasn't reached his ceiling yet. His hand placement and pad level got SO much better in year 2, but he still needs to refine his technique. The guy has a great motor too. Itwill be nice to have the same defensive staff for the first time since fangio left. I'm thinking we are going to have a top 10 defense this year, assuming we go defense heavy in the draft like most of us anticipate DE-FO, FIE-FUM, IM HERE TO MAKE ALL OF YOUR QUATERBACKS RUN *Note to self, don't watch 49er highlight videos when you want to go to sleep* 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TecmoSuperJoe Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Chilling story about how Bourne almost got cut after he was late to a meeting. Good read though. https://www.ninersnation.com/2018/4/4/17165640/kendrick-bourne-almost-cut-49ers-rookie-season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudyZ Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 6 hours ago, N4L said: I'm thinking we are going to have a top 10 defense this year, assuming we go defense heavy in the draft like most of us anticipate I think having an offense that can sustain drives will take a lot of pressure off the defense. Maybe they can play loose and attack more, just knowing Jimmy will keep us in the game. And have more energy in the fourth quarter, for having played 60 snaps instead of 85 by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-ALL-DAY Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Top 10 defense? I don't see that happening, especially with Foster potentially being suspended. But the Toomer signing should save us some grace if he is indeed suspended. One interesting the thing about our pass rush or lack thereof, our pressure rate was actually very solid, we just didn't finish the job. Low on sacks but high on pressure. That's mainly due to Buckner being such a beast, but those types of thing tend to even out. Get one solid pass rusher in the draft that could contribute next season, and then it may not be all that bad. Sherman will need to be healthy or close to healthy and Witherspoon will need to take the next step. Robinson got a lot of hype last season but he didn't progress from his rookie season at all. But our secondary has nice potential, especially with Tartt returning. Getting someone like Fitzpatrick/James/Ward will only help. I'm all for doubling up on edge rushers in this draft. Take two in the first three rounds and hope one of them hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 8 hours ago, N4L said: I'm thinking we are going to have a top 10 defense this year, assuming we go defense heavy in the draft like most of us anticipate I don't see that happening unless someone on edge blows up. Not impossible, but I don't find it likely. We just aren't going to create enough pressure in my opinion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudyZ Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 2 hours ago, Forge said: I don't see that happening unless someone on edge blows up. Not impossible, but I don't find it likely. We just aren't going to create enough pressure in my opinion. We were 16th last year in yards per play. The problem is that we had the third most defensive plays in the league. I expect that to go way down next year. Overall, we were 25th in time of possession, on offense, and that includes the improvement we saw under Jimmy. I can honestly imagine being in or close to the top 10 in time of possession next year, which should lead to our defense not being in the top 3 for most defensive snaps. That alone should help our defense be borderline top 10. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forge Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 1 minute ago, rudyZ said: We were 16th last year in yards per play. The problem is that we had the third most defensive plays in the league. I expect that to go way down next year. Overall, we were 25th in time of possession, on offense, and that includes the improvement we saw under Jimmy. I can honestly imagine being in or close to the top 10 in time of possession next year, which should lead to our defense not being in the top 3 for most defensive snaps. That alone should help our defense be borderline top 10. That would effect bulk stats, but not rate or efficiency stats, which I think are the better indicators. Perhaps not being tired and worn out will help those out, but I'd have to wait and see. To me, we simply don't have enough talent on the defensive side of the football at this point in time. There's no reason for me to think that we will see a considerable improvement in yards per play at this point, or in dvoa where we were ranked 26th total, 25th in weighted dvoa (which weighs the back half the schedule greater, ie when we had Jimmy G, and gives less weight to the beginning of the season) all against the 27th ranked schedule per offensive dvoa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-ALL-DAY Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Our TOP was awful because of the amount of three and outs we had. That changed with Jimmy G, but I didn't think the defense got all that much better. Jags/Titans still moved the ball fairly well on us and Rams had some success for a stretch. However, if Sherman is Sherman, that is going to make a big difference. The upgrade with him over Johnson is unquantifiable lol. That is again, if he back to or close to 100% which is no sure thing. And that is the story of the defense at this moment. "No sure thing." We can't be sure Foster will play a full season with a potential suspension looming and injury concerns, can't be sure Sherman will be healthy or that we will upgrade at the edge position. Sure it has potential, but going to take finding a nice pass rusher in the draft and Sherman/Foster playing close to 16 games at full health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N4L Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 A lot of that statement was predicated on the idea we are going to be one of the tops in the league at TOP. Garoppolo and taylor/garcon are money on third down. Another part of that was spending a lot of draft capital on a couple of key spots. I mean, think about it. We have young talent who will finally have the same DC for a second straight year for essentially their first time in their careers. Day one of camp will be a refresher, not a new language. That should help tremendously when it comes to playing as one, cohesive unit. They will be building chemistry on day 2, not trying to keep their heads above water. Defense is all about reading and reacting, having a deeper knowledge base of the scheme could help guys take the next step. Thomas didn't exactly make too many splash plays as a rookie, but he didn't look like he didn't belong either. The guy seems to have good strength, leverage and is already a force in the run game. He will be a great NT in our hybrid 43 scheme, and let buckner be the UT and shoot up-field like he likes to do. He is also somewhat of a darkhorse candidate to play the big end spot on base downs with earl Mitchell at the nose. I don't think Armstead is as bad as people make him out to be on here. His biggest problem has been injuries. He shouldn't have been playing in 2016 with the torn labrum. I think he has really good hands and is actually pretty quick laterally. He has pretty good feet too. He is certainly a talented player, but the scheme fit questions are certainly legitimate. If he can work himself into a decent pass rusher on the edge, a DL of AA, Thomas, Buckner, and whatever LEO we acquire could certainly give offenses problems. If we spend #9 on a LEO then that will be FOUR top 11 picks on our DL all on their rookie deals. That is pretty incredible in its own right. The fact that we didn't even bring Elvis Dumerville into camp makes me think we have some sort of plan for the LEO spot. I mean, he was pretty decent last year, and his speed around the edge was something we desperately need. I think we end up taking a speed rusher in the second or third.. someone under the radar who is undersized but will only be a pass rusher. Just a hunch. Our Ss should be good, we obviously still need linebackers, but I cant help but feel like we will address it in the draft. We still need corners.. maybe top 10 is a bit of a reach but I think we will continue to improve. Our DL dominating would go a loooong way in improving the whole unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissooner49er Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Perhaps Pita Taumoepenu played into the decision with Elvis leaving the building... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudyZ Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 5 hours ago, Forge said: That would effect bulk stats, but not rate or efficiency stats, which I think are the better indicators. Perhaps not being tired and worn out will help those out, but I'd have to wait and see. To me, we simply don't have enough talent on the defensive side of the football at this point in time. There's no reason for me to think that we will see a considerable improvement in yards per play at this point, or in dvoa where we were ranked 26th total, 25th in weighted dvoa (which weighs the back half the schedule greater, ie when we had Jimmy G, and gives less weight to the beginning of the season) all against the 27th ranked schedule per offensive dvoa. Yeah, I'm talking about the trickle down effect. There are all sorts of things that go into a defense performing better. Having a less atrocious amount of snaps to play each game has to have an impact. A better starting field position, due to the offense moving the chains better, can also have an impact, even if it's only psychological. And talking about psychology, knowing that your offense can pull its own weight has to help you play better. Those are all little impacts, but add the fact that Solly is going into year 2 (and considering he didn't get to participate in the OTAs because of the college rule, having a full offseason can have a big impact on him), Buckner is still only getting better each year, Foster and Spoon in year 2 after looking promising, having Ward and Tartt back, Malcolm Smith (who knows, he might be surprisingly good), and then, who wouldn't improve our Leo spot (that answer is Eli Harold, but let's pretend we find a better option. Perhaps Sneeze)... and if Sherman is back to full form, that's a high impact player added at a spot where we had arguably our worst player last year. All these things amount to potentially a major improvement. I don't look at the in-depth stats, so I can't really discuss the dvoas of this world, but I can easily imagine our defense allowing fewer yards per play, fewer yards per drive, fewer drives per game, and many fewer points at the end of the line. A lot of it is based on time of possession, for me. Maybe opponents will figure out Kyle and Jimmy, and the offense won't be as explosive as it was late last year, in which case, no, I don't think the defense will be borderline top 10. But if the offense is as good as we think it can be, then I think we have a good shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TecmoSuperJoe Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 (edited) Top ten defense? Lol. Tis the offseason. 2011 Eagles called. They want their hype train back. Edited April 6, 2018 by PapaShogun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyJersey9er Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 9 hours ago, PapaShogun said: Top ten defense? Lol. Tis the offseason. 2011 Eagles called. They want their hype train back. Rams are teetering way closer to a 2011 eagles situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-ALL-DAY Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 36 minutes ago, DirtyJersey9er said: Rams are teetering way closer to a 2011 eagles situation. Rams were already really good and added more really good in prime players. Not the same situation as the Eagles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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