A conversation between San Francisco 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir and former DC Steve Wilks that could have gone a different way
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir was on Richard Sherman’s podcast, and the duo spoke about a specific situation in the Super Bowl in which Lenoir felt like he should have been used differently.
Lenoir saw a formation by the Kansas City Chiefs and believed he should be in the slot. So he went up to defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and shared his thought process:
I talked to Wilks before the game, and I was just telling him how I was feeling. I watch a lot of film, so I was just seeing where the ball was going, and I was like, ‘It’s mainly between the hashes. It’s going to the slots’ They don’t really got no dominant outside guy, so I was telling him, ‘I feel like I should be in the slot this game.’
The Chiefs targeted tight end Travis Kelce 11 times. Next up was wideout Rashee Rice, with eight targets. Half of Rice’s snaps were played from the slot. Lenoir is right in the sense that Kansas City’s offense had its strengths, but throwing the ball outside of the numbers was not one.
Per Pro Football Focus, only 77 of Patrick Mahomes’ 333 yards came outside of the numbers. Lenoir and Charvarius Ward were being wasted on the outside while backup linebackers were being attacked at the intermediate levels between the hashes
Lenoir continued:
“I never questioned a coach, never questioned decisions or nothing. I came to him—that was the only time I came to him, and I said that. But they had [their] philosophy and what they felt worked, what was going to work, and they made that decision, so I was like, ‘I’m going to just roll with it. I’m going to just try to do what I can to help us win.’”
The 49ers defense did not make the necessary adjustments in the biggest games of the season last year. It’s part of the reason there was a change made at defensive coordinator, despite making the Super Bowl.
Nick Sorensen inherits plenty of talent on the defensive side of the ball, but there will come a time when an in-game adjustment needs to be made. Will he pass the test?
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