Five Defensive Players who Impressed on the 49ers in 2022
2022 saw the 49ers trot out a phenomenal defense. The scheme and structure that former defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans ran was perfect. But none of that matters if he doesn't have the incredible players to execute his plan with great precision.
Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, and Charvarius Ward are the headliners of the defense as they played impressively all season long. However, they are expected to be impressive. There are other players who completely surprised or just blew the door off of expectations with their performance and deserve to be recognized.
Here are the five defensive players who impressed on the 49ers in 2022.
Dre Greenlaw
One vote away. Dre Greenlaw was one vote away from becoming a second-team All Pro player in 2022. He was completely tremendous this season and all it took was for him to get a good bill of health. The last two seasons Greenlaw was hindered by injuries. Now that he was able to stiff arm any bad luck with injuries, he puts on an elite season. The contract extension that the 49ers locked Greenlaw into at the beginning of the season looks like a steal now.
He needed to have a season like this. It was just last year where there was a toss up on which linebacker the 49ers should retain between Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair. Greenlaw is clearly now the future with the team and the better player. If it wasn't for an undisciplined first quarter of the season, Greenlaw likely gets that one vote and has a complete elite season. Either way, he was massively impressive as he is on par with Fred Warner.
Jimmie Ward
No player on the 49ers, both offense and defense, was forced to sink or swim than Jimmie Ward. He started the season with an injured hamstring, then immediately broke his hand in his debut against Carolina. When he finally returns with a club on his broken hand, he is forced into playing nickel corner and not safety. It was a rough start to Ward. He looked outmatched from the jump, which makes sense since he is a natural safety and likely dealing with rust away from the game.
But Ward ended up turning a bleak situation that he could've drowned in and flipped it into a thriving situation. No one would've blamed him for failing at nickel corner since the 49ers were forcing him out of position. Yet, he adapted and completely flipped the script. He became an anchor on the defense as he had been for years at safety. Ward demonstrated elite versatility. He's always been capable of playing the slot, but making a full on indefinite switch is different than just playing in certain instances there. Tip of the cap to what he did despite the 49ers doing him no favors. Ward will be a stinging departure should he leave in free agency.
Talanoa Hufanga
If you would've told me that Talanoa Hufanga would be an All Pro and Pro Bowl player before the 2022 season, I would've laughed at you. Well, the joke is on me because he accomplished that. It is massively impressive to earn these honors and it was well deserved despite finishing the last four-to-six games sloppy. Hufanga made a clear game changing impact from the beginning.
All of the concerns that were thought of him about being slow and undisciplined were quelled mostly. It is what allowed him to tally so many turnovers, which hasn't been seen from a 49ers safety in so long. Four picks and two forced fumbles. An absolute impactful player. Hufanga just needs to ensure his eyes are not "dirty" going forward as DeMeco Ryans would say. If he can do that, then he will be a great safety for the foreseeable future.
Tashaun Gipson
The biggest surprise of the season from the 49ers outside of Brock Purdy has to be Tashaun Gipson. My thoughts on him was that he was a glorified training camp body when he was signed to the team. There was no reason to expect anything of him as he is just like Tony Jefferson and Jonathan Cyprien from a couple years ago. But Gipson was able to solidify himself at safety and steal the starting role away from Ward, which is massively impressive.
Gipson, to me, was the most impressive defensive player on the 49ers. He went from being just a free agent veteran who no one wanted to being a strong starter. I thought he would be a failed experiment, especially after a rough debut in Week 1 versus the Bears. But my goodness, Gipson was just impressive. His arrival made the 49ers defense oversaturated with talent, which is a great issue to have. You just have to wonder if he wants to come back and if the Niners have mutual feelings since he is a free agent.
Deommodore Lenoir
Another player who bounced back to play impressively over time is Deommodore Lenoir. Filling in for Emmanuel Moseley, who was easily playing like a top-10 corner, was a tall task. Lenoir looked bad against Atlanta in his first start and the couple of ensuing games. But he didn't falter from those performances and ended up playing like a well rounded corner. His coverage, especially in the final six games of the year, was sweet.
Lenoir just gets slack because he doesn't have playmaking ability. His ball skills are not great, but that is the case for a lot of corners. At least he wasn't getting abused each and every game. He was always right there with his receiver and never multiple yards behind. Lenoir is underrated with how sticky in coverage he is and can tackle, so the 49ers actually have a pretty sweet player with him. Don't forget that he spent training camp and the beginning of the seasons as a nickel corner, so he had to get reacquainted again on the outside. All he needed was some time and once he got it -- he played impressively.
