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Former NFL OC Says the 49ers Defense Must Run More Simulated Pressures

"In today's game, as a defensive guy I would be more concerned about how many different simulated I can create."
Grant Cohn|
October 8, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) sacks Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) during the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
October 8, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) sacks Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) during the second quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports | Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

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San Francisco 49ers

I recently asked former Raiders offensive coordinator Tom Walsh what the 49ers defense needs to work on during training camp this year. Here's what he said.

WALSH: "In today's game, as a defensive guy I would be more concerned about how many different simulated I can create."

ME: Define simulated pressures.

WALSH: "I can put up a variety of personnel on the line of scrimmage and make them look like they're all blitzing. I'm going to simulate pressure. I'm going the challenge the quarterback or the center if he's the one calling protections to sort out who is a threat to rush and to where I'm going to direct my protection."

ME: You could present seven or eight pass-rushing threats, theoretically.

WALSH: "Exactly. So which one of those guys if any are blitzing? And which linemen are dropping into coverage? The 49ers have this guy they just signed by the name of Leonard Floyd. He has been a drop backer as well as a rusher. I'd have a scheme called Pink Floyd, Red Floyd, Green Floyd, Brown Floyd, Yellow Floyd -- I would have a whole package designed around how I can have simulated pressures utilizing Floyd and the other defenders."

ME: For years, the 49ers' pass rush has been vanilla and straightforward: four down linemen rushing straight at the quarterback.

WALSH: "Offenses can handle that. I want to make the opposing quarterback have to take his mental game to a higher level. If I can challenge him mentally and make him think more, he may have some hesitancy, he may make some wrong decisions, he may not be able to function as easily as if I let him play the game in a rocking chair."

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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.

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