Where the 49ers Have Improved the Most this Offseason
This offseason, the 49ers made one position a clear priority:
Defensive tackle.
They signed the most expensive free agent at the position -- Javon Hargrave. And just like that, they turned the right defensive tackle spot, which has been the weakest link of the defense since they traded DeForest Buckner three years ago, into one of its biggest strengths.
But even though the 49ers signed Hargrave, they essentially traded for him, because to afford him they had to let five key contributors from last year's defense leave in free agency: Samson Ebukam, Charles Omenihu, Azeez Al-Shaair, Jimmie Ward and Emmanuel Moseley.
The 49ers clearly like this trade off, and it should make their pass rush immediately better, because Hargrave is an outstanding interior rusher who recorded 11 sacks last season. Meanwhile, Ebukam and Omenihu together recorded just 9.5. Advantage: Hargrave. However, he's 30, Omenihu is 25 and Ebukam is 27. How much longer can Hargrave continue to outproduce both of them combined? Will he even outproduce them this season, and by how much?
Let's say Hargrave records three more sacks than Omenihu and Ebukam next season. That three-sack improvement would come at the expense of the 49ers run defense, which took a hit with the losses of Ebukam, Al-Shaair and Ward.
It's interesting that the 49ers would sacrifice run defense to improve their pass defense, when the pass defense actually performed quite well in the NFC Championship. It sacked Hurts only once, but still limited him to just 121 yards through the air, zero touchdown passes and a putrid quarterback rating of 72.3.
Meanwhile, the 49ers run defense gave up a whopping 148 rushing yards and four touchdowns to the Eagles in the NFC Championship. Got pushed around in the trenches.
If the 49ers are going to dethrone the Eagles as the NFC Champions, they're going to have to stop the Eagles run game, because the Eagles are committed to it. They had the third-most rushing attempts in the NFL last year, and this offseason they upgraded at running back by letting Miles Sanders leave and adding D'Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny.
Hargrave will not help the 49ers run defense, because he's a pass rusher. He can be a bit of a liability against the run. Which means the 49ers weakened their run defense, which got exposed by their No. 1 rival, just so they could marginally improve their pass rush.
Bold strategy. Let's see if it pays off for them.
