How Charvarius Ward and Emmanuel Moseley Give DeMeco Ryans "Freedom" as a Play Caller
Elite would be an understatement when describing the 49ers defense.
They have been performing at astronomical levels. In fact, they have been so great that this defense might just go down as one of the best all-time. One of the main reasons for that is because of the outside cornerbacks.
Charvarius Ward and Emmanuel Moseley have completely raised the defense to new heights. Last season, the defense was playing at an incredible level, but would shoot itself in the foot due to poor cornerback play. Moseley was hurt a lot, so that left the 49ers to trot out Josh Norman and Ambry Thomas. Wide receivers would relish at the opportunity to face these two.
Now, Moseley and Ward have shored up the defense and it is allowing DeMeco Ryans to have more "freedom" in his play calling. And it isn't just their stout coverage that has allowed that for him -- it's their ability to support against the run.
"I think the corners, that changes everything for our defense," Ryans said. "It's always about the edges of our defense, so when you have guys who can rush the passer on the edge, you have corners who can hold up on the edge, it's so much more that you can do and so much more freedom as a play caller because you have confidence in those guys, the corners and the edge rushers."
Having cornerbacks who can just cover and execute their assignment flawlessly is all any defensive coordinator would ask for. This is a passing league after all, so if they are weak against the run, then it is something a defense can stomach. Just look at the Rams with Jalen Ramsey. He is subpar against the run. The Rams have no issue with that as he makes up for it with excellent coverage most of the time.
But the fact that Ryans has two outside cornerbacks who excel at tackling, holding their own on the edge, and can bring that aggression against runners makes a whole difference. This is what makes the 49ers such a perfect defense and a chance to go down as one of the greats.
"When you're strong on the edge of your defense," Ryans said, "you have a chance to be a really really great defense and we have that in Mooney and E-Man, with Bosa and Samson and all of those guys that are rushing for us.
"They've given us the ability to do a lot of different things just because of the players that they are and the confidence, the way they bring it every single day. That gives me the confidence in those guys and that allows us our defense to play really good ball.
