How Brandon Staley will Improve the 49ers Pass Rush

Last season, the 49ers pass rush was pure vanilla.

The 49ers rushed four and that was about it. You rarely saw them attempt any stunts or twists, and when they blitzed, the blitzer almost always got blocked. There was absolutely nothing creative about the 49ers' pressure packages, and as a result, the 49ers defense ranked 20th out of 32 teams in sack percentage. Unacceptable.

Enter Brandon Staley, the 49ers' new assistant head coach. He seems to be the architect of the 49ers' current defense and the one who will design the blitzes and pressure packages next season, considering defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen is a former defensive backs coach who has no experience drawing up exotic blitzes.

One of the first things the 49ers did in free agency this year was sign Leonard Floyd, who played for Staley on the Bears and on the Rams -- Staley essentially developed. And Floyd isn't a traditional 4-3 defensive end. For most of his career, he has been a 3-4 outside linebacker, which means he drops into coverage occassionally.

The 49ers almost never drop their defensive ends into coverage -- they're too big. Leonard will give them the ability to call zone blitzes in which he drops in a zone in the flat while a linebacker blitzes from the opposite side. Which means the 49ers' defense should be much more sophisticated this season.

Remember, in the Super Bowl, the Chiefs blitzed relentlessly and generated nine unblocked rushers against the 49ers. After the game, the 49ers immediately and unsuccessfully tried to hire defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo away from Kansas City. So it seems the 49ers want more sophistication and variation in their pass rush.

It's about time.