The Unheralded Hero of the 49ers Defense
Last week on The Cohn Zohn podcast, my dad asked me who the unheralded hero of the 49ers' offense is. I said Kyle Juszczyk, because he unlocks of Kyle Shanahan's creativity. Allows Shanahan to express all his great ideas.
His question got me thinking: Who's the unheralded hero of the 49ers defense?
He has to have a Juszczyk-life effect on the defense, meaning he has to unlock all of defensive coordinator Robert Saleh's ingenuity.
And that player is K'Waun Williams, the nickelback. And before explain why, let me tell you about Saleh.
Saleh is a chess player. Last year, I asked him to name his favorite chess piece. I expected him to say the queen or the bishop -- one of the valuable pieces. But he said the pawn, because if you use pawns correctly, they can be "menacing." I remember Saleh used the word "menacing."
Saleh has a similar philosophy as a defensive coordinator. He doesn't just feature the queen, or his best player. Saleh is an egalitarian defensive coordinator -- he takes turns featuring all his players. They share stats and production almost equally.
But when you think of the "menacing pawn" in particular, which Saleh referred to, that's Williams. He's not flashy -- he doesn't cover man to man often or break up lots of passes. But he's a terrific tackler, and he frequently forces fumbles -- he forced four last season during the regular season, tops on the 49ers. More than Nick Bosa or Fred Warner or Arik Armstead. And then in the playoffs, Williams forced another fumble. Slapped the ball out of Aaron Rodgers' hands.
Williams also is a great blitzer. He's Saleh's secret weapon. Saleh knows the offense is focused on blocking the 49ers' defensive linemen -- Bosa, Armstead, Dee Ford. So Saleh often will use one as a decoy -- usually Ford -- drop him into coverage, and blitz Williams. Because everyone expects Ford to rush the quarterback. No one expects Williams to rush. He catches offenses by surprise. Then he forces fumbles, and win games. And yet, few people outside the Bay Area know who he is.
Williams is so under the radar, I don't even know what his voice sounds like, and I've covered him since 2017. Us beat writers always forget to interview him. He's not a starter, technically. And he's short -- 5'9" -- so he blends in. And he's not a big self-promoter. The media usually interviews Jimmie Ward or Richard Sherman, when Williams really is the best player in the 49ers' secondary.
Williams deserves more ink and face time. In honor of him, here are his best plays from 2019.
Enjoy.
