When Kyle Shanahan became the 49ers’ head coach in 2017, what defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and assistant coach DeMeco Ryans improved was the run defense.
And for some strange reason, that was the first thing their successor, Steve Wilks, dismantled.
The 49ers defense gave up just 3.
4 yards per carry last season, the second-fewest total in the NFL.
And they accomplished this without Javon Hargrave, who was with the Eagles last season.
Additionally, Arik Armstead missed nine games.
As a result, the 49ers are short on manpower.
Now that Armstead is fully healthy and Hargrave is in the team – the run defense should be better.
But not so.
He fell.
He gave up 4.
1 yards per carry, which ranked 18th out of 32 teams.
What a drop from last season.
And what a predictable result it was.
To sign Hargrave, the 49ers were unable to re-sign several key defenders, such as Samson Ebukam, Charles Omenihu, Hassan Ridgeway, Azeez Al-Shaair and Jimmie Ward.
This offseason, the 49ers replaced Ward with Isaiah Oliver, who was terrible.
They replaced Ridgeway with Javon Hargrave, a not-so-good defender.
They replaced Al-Shaair with Oren Burks, a decorated special teams teammate.
They replaced Omenihu with Clelin Ferrell, who didn’t play well.
They replaced Ebukam with Chase Young, who has yet to play a game with the 49ers but has developed a reputation as a player who doesn’t maintain integrity against the run.
Wilks decided to focus his defense on pass rushing and pass coverage.
, and sacrificing defense in the process.
Saleh and Ryans are probably shaking their heads.
