Much has been made—and was made weekly during the season—of the 49ers' lack of a pass rush. The team was last in the league in sacks and last in pressure rate. Since the defense had almost double the sacks in 2024 (20 vs. 37) with a healthy Nick Bosa, it stands to reason they would improve just by getting him back, and perhaps even more by getting back 1st-round draft pick Mykel Williams as well.

But the best approach would not be to draft or sign a beast of an edge rusher to line up opposite Bosa. That was the idea when general manager John Lynch drafted Williams, and very few teams have the draft capital and money the Houston Texans have had to pair up Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.


The key is to get the pressure—and control—up the middle. When the Niners went to the Super Bowl in 2019, they had star rookie Bosa on the edge, but they also had defensive tackle DeForest Buckner as a disruptor in the middle. Arik Armstead was the other defensive end, but his specialty was against the run, and when you can shut down the run, the opposing side has to pass—and has to pass on 3rd-and-long.

In 2023, Lynch went out and signed Javon Hargrave to slot as one defensive tackle, and the 49ers also moved Armstead inside—his more natural position—for the other. The defense put up 48 sacks that year, they ranked third in the league in fewest rushing yards allowed, and the team went to the Super Bowl.

After the 2019 season's Super Bowl run, Lynch traded Buckner. After the 2023 season, he released Armstead. The team has not been the same since.

Hargrave suffered a bad injury and was released for salary-cap and health reasons. High draft pick Javon Kinlaw never panned out. Free agent Maliek Collins didn't seem to fit. And the interior of the defensive line has been little more than a rotation of backups.

That may have changed a little with the drafting of defensive tackle Alfred Collins last year, but he is mostly a run stuffer. He is a good one and should keep getting better, but he has never been known to be a pass rusher, and he was not selected in the 2nd round to do that. They don't have that pass-rush defensive tackle.


The Seattle Seahawks are the team the Niners need to build to beat, and San Francisco can learn from how Seattle constructed their roster. The Seahawks' front four dominated the 49ers twice at the end of the season, and their interior controls the flow. They have a balanced pressure attack, with no one player filling up the stat sheet. No one on the team had double-digit sacks, but the team recorded 47 overall, ranking 7th in the league. Their two starting defensive tackles, Byron Murphy II and Leonard Williams, both had 7. Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence added 6, and rush linebacker Uchenna Nwosu had 7.

The Seahawks were 1st in the league against the run and 10th against the pass. And in the most important category of all, points allowed, they were number 1.

I expect Lynch to draft a defensive lineman in the first round this April, but unless he doesn't expect Nick Bosa or Mykel Williams to come back at full strength, he needs to look for someone to push the middle. Ohio State's Kayden McDonald would fit that requirement nicely.

Even if Lynch plans to move Williams inside on passing downs, the defense still needs that 3-down anchor. Alfred Collins shows promise, but he was not drafted to be that guy.

The best Niner defenses have always had a strong defensive line, but it's important to note that they have excelled on the interior. On their last Super Bowl-winning team, way back in 1995, the defense had Hall of Fame defensive tackle Bryant Young and All-Pro Dana Stubblefield in the middle. Neither had double-digit sacks, but the defense was 6th in the league in points allowed, and the scarlet and gold cruised to victory in the title game.


An inside force makes the outside much better, and that inside should be the focus this offseason.

Written By:

Jack Stewart


Jack Stewart was educated at Alabama and Emory and was a Brittain Fellow at Georgia Tech. His poetry has been published widely in the US and several other countries. His book No Reason was published in the Poeima Poetry Series in 2020.
All articles by Jack Stewart


Follow us on: X, Facebook, Threads, Instagram

Read Original Article
Visit 49ers Webzone

More San Francisco 49ers News