The 49ers made some rather major additions to the defense as the new league year begun in the NFL. They added LB Kwon Alexander and LB/DE Dee Ford. Both deals were made official by the 49ers.
The 49ers had a lot of problems last year for sure, and the defense was one of them. While the defense ranked pretty middle-of-the-pack overall, they definitely needed some help there to hopefully reach that next level. The 49ers did just that with these two moves as these two additions are perfect for them and it was just what they needed.
Firstly, Kwon Alexander should really help the linebacking core, and he is a perfect fit for the 49ers scheme. He is a fast and athletic linebacker that can get downhill quickly and explosively while also possessing great sideline to sideline speed. He is a very effective player against the run and should be able to be yet another good run stopper for the 49ers. The team was a good run-stopping group last year, but they did lack a bit of that at the second level. Alexander will be able to help fix that.
He can also act as a good spy on the QB in certain situations as his sideline to sideline speed can help keep contain on the quarterback. That speed has also helped him be a thorn in the sides of other teams as he has helped create a good bit of turnovers in his short career so far. Additionally, with Fred Warner’s terrific coverage skills for a linebacker, Kwon Alexander won’t have to drop back in coverage as much, though it wouldn’t be a detriment if he did that too at times. He is a good complimentary piece to Warner as both have different skill sets that make them a dynamic duo.
Dee Ford is just what the 49ers needed and badly. The 49ers were one of the worst pass-rushing teams last year. Conversely, Ford was graded as the best pass-rusher last year according to Pro Football Focus and he had more than twice as many sacks as the 49ers’ top two pass-rushers last year in Cassius Marsh and Ronald Blair, who each has 5.5 sacks each (so Ford with 13 also had two more than those guys combined last year). He also collected 29 QB hits and seven forced fumbles. The 49ers literally could not make a better upgrade based on production from last season.
Based on what we have heard, the 49ers sound as though they are going to use Dee Ford in the way the Chiefs were scared of doing, running him as a mainly defensive end in a 4-3 defense. The 49ers will give Ford the chance to line up on the line of scrimmage and just do one thing: get to the quarterback.
In Kansas City, Ford lamented the fact that he had to think about his game a lot as the Chiefs forced him to drop into coverage a lot and think about the plays, which might have held him back. He will not have to do that with the 49ers as much as the defensive scheme they play doesn’t call for that. He can focus on lining up opposite of tackles and using his quick first step, one of the quickest in the league, to explode off the line then use his size and strength to overpower the tackle in hopes of getting to the quarterback and disrupting many plays. He also has been known to be used to vastly overpower guards inside as well as another potential wrinkle in his game potentially.
His presence will help others on the defense as well. The 49ers could have a heck of an interior presence on defense with Armstead, Buckner, Thomas, Day, Jones and others, but the problem is that they never got a chance to make their biggest impact because they didn’t have the pass-rush on the edge that draws attention. With Dee Ford, they now do. So even if Ford doesn’t make an impact on a play, the guys on the interior can as Ford will draw major attention. This will help Buckner more than anyone as he saw double teams a good bit last year and still had major impact as an interior lineman. With Ford outside of him, Buckner should see more one on ones against guards that he can take on. But this could easily help Armstead and Thomas as well. It will be hard for an offensive line to stop everyone, especially if Kwon Alexander comes in from the second level as well on the inside.
Ford’s presence himself and the trickle down effect it will have on the rest of the defensive line should help the secondary as well. The 49ers only had two interceptions last year, an NFL record-low. The big reason for this was because the quarterback felt very little pressure. Pass-rush has a way of making the quarterback make mistakes, and that leads to turnovers more than anything.
Ford, himself, also forced seven fumbles last year. The 49ers had seven takeaways all of last year, so having a guy who can force fumbles at a rate like that can really help the 49ers get the ball back and get the defense off the field even more, which was another problem for the defense last year. So Ford can create turnovers for himself as well as cause turnovers for others. His pass-rush will create more quarterback mistakes that lead to turnovers and he will help create opportunities for others to force turnovers as well. And there will be times where he creates the turnover as well by himself.
The 49ers defense laid a good foundation but they were obviously missing some key pieces that makes a good defense into a great one. And with the additions of Kwon Alexander and Dee Ford, they got some of those key pieces that have the possibility of elevating that defense to another level. They aren’t done though as they still need help on defense, but they are certainly much better in that area than they were just a few days ago. The 49ers defense, especially in the front seven, looks really tough to deal with now.
No comments:
Post a Comment