It’s been a challenging season for San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. We saw the potential of what a healthy defense could look like in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks when they held that offense to 13 points. Since then, no team has kept the Seahawks under 20 points. There have been four occasions where Seattle scored at least 31 points.
But that was with Nick Bosa. Fred Warner was still manning the middle. First-round pick Mykel Williams was starting to flash. On Thursday, Saleh said every season is exhausting, whether you’re healthy or not. He elected to look at the development and growth of the players on the field during this season as opposed to looking back at the injuries.
One player the Niners will get back who they can expect to contribute is Bryce Huff, who Saleh called a closer: “Bryce is a closer. When you’re sitting there in the fourth quarter and you need a play and you need it now and the speed at which he can do it, having guys like that are invaluable.”
The 49ers have a second half of football to play. Defensively, they don’t have a vocal leader. But with the added injuries, that leader could be born during the second half of the season. In Saleh’s eyes, he has an idea of who it could be, but didn’t want to put a name on it:
“That’s the exciting part. I mentioned it a couple weeks ago, when we were here in ‘17 and ‘18, I was like, ‘well, who’s going to be next?’ You saw this little skinny linebacker named Fred Warner. No one expected it to be him. And you know, [Houston Texans S] Jimmie Ward and [former 49ers S Jaquiski] Tartt and [Indianapolis Colts DL DeForest] Buckner and [Jacksonville Jaguars DL Arik] Armstead, all those guys were so young, [former CB] K’Waun Williams was young. They all rose to the occasion and made a name for themselves. So, this group being as young as it is, I wish I could tell you. I have an idea. But, I’m excited for everybody to take advantage of their opportunity and to evolve into the player that we all know they’re capable of.”
My guesses are Dee Winters or Malik Mustapha. While both are effectively in their second seasons (Winters didn’t play much at all as a rookie), they play pivotal roles in the defense where you’re forced to communicate. When you’re the one doing the talking and making the calls, players tend to look at you as a leader.
Cornerbacks are on an island, so I don’t know if Renardo Green or Deommodore Lenoir qualifies. Kyle Shanahan and Saleh have spoken highly about Green and his work during the past couple of weeks. Shanahan said Green is coming off his best week of the season. Saleh believes Green has taken a big step, dating back a couple of games:
“He has had a really good last two or three weeks where he’s really taken a big step. He missed some time in training camp, so I think he kind of got off to a slow start. But he’s been deliberate, he’s been working. I’m excited about the trajectory that Renardo is on for sure.”
Green has been targeted 16 times in the previous three games. He’s giving up an average of 4.8 yards per target while pitching in four run stops. Green has allowed the lowest completion percentage in the league at 44.1 percent this season.
The 49ers will need a similar performance from Green as he had the last time out against the Rams, when he was targeted eight times, but only surrendered 20 yards in coverage. Most of the game, he was isolated against Davante Adams.
One player the Niners hope can contribute against the Rams wasn’t on the roster the last time these two teams played. Saleh was asked how he could help Keion White’s development after he’s been with so many different coaching staffs, four to be specific. Saleh likened White to one of his former players:
“Everyone’s a little bit different. With Keion, it reminds me of someone like [New York Jets LB] Quincy Williams who we had at the Jets. He was drafted in the third round by the Jaguars, didn’t quite work out, cut after the second year. We get our hands on him and he’s All Pro, an All-Pro linebacker, which credit to him and the work he put in. So, sometimes it just takes being in the right situation with the right staff. It’s not one staff being better than the other, it’s just a matter of just that connection. So, with Keion being in this situation, we feel great about his skillset. We know exactly what that skill set looks like and how it fits for us and what we do. I know he’s excited about it and I think with everyone being so excited about what he’s capable of, whatever he’s capable of in the NFL I think he’s going to be able to show it here.”
This is the kind of game where an athlete like White, specifically his first step, can give the Rams offensive line problems. Sometimes, all it takes is the opposite colored jersey flashing that could force a mistake. White was close on a couple of occasions last week, especially rushing from the inside.
It’ll take time, but it was a promising debut for White and what he can bring to the table for the 49ers’ defense.
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