49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is known as one of the top offensive minds in the NFL. He got there in part chopping teeth at defensive meetings with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004 and 2005. By developing a deeper understanding of defensive soccer early in his coaching career and planning the game against defenses for nine years as an offensive coordinator Shanahan knew exactly what defense he wanted his team to run when the 49ers hired him as their head coach before the 2017 season.
He hired Robert Saleh as his defensive coordinator to execute a version of the defense that made the Seattle Seahawks so dominant in the early 2010s, and helped them maintain their playoff contender status throughout the decade.
Shanahan’s explanation of that defense and why he prefers it helps to understand why the team didn’t make a fort, if any, he pushed to switch for the safety of Jets All-Pro, Jamal Adams.
The 49ers head coach joined the ‘Chris Simms Unbuttoned’ podcast and discussed why he chose to implement the defense that Seattle popularized under head coach Pete Carroll.
“(It is) a very solid front with very solid coverage. Now personally, that’s the defense he wanted because I know that if you have talented players, then there is no way to really cheat on him, ”Shanahan told Simms. “It is too much sound. You have to win it all and have the quarterback go 10 for 10. And a good one will, and that will cause you to have to be shaky and eventually you will have to do a blitz or something to get that guy out. But if it’s not that good, there are no holes for the coaches. It is too much sound.
“And there are some holes if we start drawing some seven-step drops with three shots, and that is why it is so important to have the fast pass that we have eventually achieved.” That has had Seattle. When you don’t have those passes, you need a less solid defense. “
After explaining how Tampa Bay’s defenses thrived in the early 2000s thanks to his passing career, and how defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis led the Colts to a Super Bowl, he discussed why the passing race of the 49ers is so vital to his defensive success.
“It took a while and we had to go through a few things with the drafts and everything,” Shanahan said. “But when you get that fast pass, if you have that good defense, man, you make people win it. And that’s what I don’t like going against.
The key phrase here is ‘solid defense’. A player like Adams would have improved the 49ers, but the cost doesn’t match the benefit. Jaquiski Tartt is a strong fort and played a key role in high school last season. He does his job well, which is all the 49ers need behind a passing career with Arik Armstead, Nick Bosa and Dee Ford.
General manager John Lynch two seasons ago equated the importance of a pass destruction game with the importance of a high-end quarterback. Clearly, the team’s defensive philosophy starts from the beginning, and pouring out multiple draft picks and top-tier money for high school players isn’t necessary in a solid defensive scheme led by one of the most effective passes in the NFL.
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