Why Kyler Murray's Mobility Will not be an Issue for 49ers
Mobile quarterbacks are always such a challenge to handle for any defense.
The 49ers will have to deal with this challenge straight out of the gates in Week 1 on Sunday when they take on Arizona's Kyler Murray.
Last season, the 49ers struggled to bring down Murray, Russell Wilson and Lamar Jackson because of their mobility.
However, sacking these unique talents are not always the main concern.
What can be the main concern is when these quarterbacks use their legs to buy time and breakdown the defensive coverage. Discipline and awareness is so critical when going up against them because it turns into backyard football. It takes a truly staunch defense to hold up strongly against mobile quarterbacks.
And that is exactly why Murray's mobility will not be an issue for the 49ers.
This will now be the third time the 49ers will be facing Murray. There shouldn't be a ton of new tricks in his arsenal that will surprise the 49ers, so they will be well prepared to handle him. This defense isn't just elite because of their pass rush. The discipline they showed in coverage for the majority of the 2019 season is still there, despite how some pundits will just use the Super Bowl to call their coverage average.
Familiarity helps the 49ers here, but most of all it is their overall team speed, specifically at the linebacker position. Murray will not be ripping chunk plays with his legs because any of the starting base defense linebackers can run him down. And should Murray roll out to buy time, the linebackers have the quickness to recover. By that time, the pass rush should be getting to Murray.
Do not forget that defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is extremely intelligent with his blitzes. He doesn't call many of them, but when he does they are extremely timely and creative. They could be an all-out blitz, nickel blitz, delayed blitz, and much more.
I know the Cardinals have DeAndre Hopkins and he will certainly make it difficult on the defensive backs. But the 49ers are way too smart of a defense to just ignore Hopkins and let him break off his route to allow him and Murray to connect on broken down plays.
Disguising the defense will also be at play here to make Murray think there is a receiver or spot available when really it is just apart of the illusion. If the 49ers can coerce Murray into incompletions and mistakes early, then he is just going to force a rush for himself to avoid the mental errors.
Facing Murray is not the same as facing Russel Wilson because the 49ers truly have to respect his ability and intelligence as a passer. Murray is capable of something a bit similar, but until he proves he can pick the defense apart, then he is going to skew towards his athleticism to attempt to beat the 49ers.
He certainly will and can try, but will unfortunately have little to no success against a supremely fast and disciplined defense.
