All 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers' Best Decision of the Offseason

The 49ers made some highly questionable decisions this offseason. This wasn't one of them.
Grant Cohn|
Jun 11, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh speaks to the media following a team OTA at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
Jun 11, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh speaks to the media following a team OTA at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers made some highly questionable decisions this offseason.

They got rid of nine starting players even though they have more than $45 million in cap space. Then they attempted to replace most of those starters with rookies and cheap free agents. Which means they got worse on paper.

But at least the 49ers prioritized their run defense in the draft. That was their best decision of the offseason, according to Pro Football Focus.

"San Francisco’s biggest defensive flaw in 2024 was its porous run defense," writes PFF's Dalton Wasserman. "The team's 28th-ranked PFF run-defense grade marked its worst placement in that category since 2016. The 49ers responded by reuniting with defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and acquiring multiple run stuffers in the draft.

"Edge defender Mykel Williams earned an excellent 86.6 PFF run-defense grade across his three seasons at Georgia. Alfred Collins and CJ West both ranked among the top 20 FBS defensive tackles in PFF run-defense grade in 2024. Those three, along with Nick Bosa, will be the new foundation of the 49ers’ run defense up front."

In addition, the 49ers spent third-round picks on linebacker Nick Martin and nickelback Upton Stout, two more players who will help the run defense.

You have to give the 49ers credit for their commitment to fixing such a big problem. But the solution is to start five rookies, and those rookies probably will struggle at first. Which means the 49ers' run defense might not be fixed until midway through the season, if it ever fully comes together this year.

Stay tuned.

Read more

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Share on XFollow grantcohn
Home/News