One Way That the 49ers Defense Will Improve Under DC Steve Wilks

Keeping the scheme the same on the defense was critical for the 49ers when DeMeco Ryans left for Houston.

The system has maintained itself since Kyle Shanahan became head coach with both Robert Saleh and Ryans as defensive coordinator. Given how elite the defense has been, it is understandable why the 49ers do not want to go through any alterations. It makes no sense for it to change when the defense has rarely been the issue for any losses or woes they have gone through.

That is why the 49ers hired Steve Wilks to take up the defensive coordinator mantle. He was more than fine with keeping everything the same, and with the help of all the incumbent defensive coaches, he should be able to pick things up where Ryans left off. However, the defense being an exact copy of what Ryans had it the last two years is not going to happen. There will still be a base structure in how the defense will look like it did with Ryans, but Wilks is going to place his own elements into it.

One way that the 49ers defense will specifically see Wilks' element and even improve at is with blitzing. Last season with the Panthers, Wilks had his defense blitz on 33.5 percent of dropbacks, which was the sixth-highest rate in the league (h/t Ted Nguyen of The Athletic). In his last stint as a defensive coordinator with the Browns, Wilks had Cleveland's blitz rate at 38.2 percent, which was fifth-highest. Compare that to Ryans this past season where his blitz rate was 21.6 percent for No. 20 in the league, and you have yourself a drastic contrast.

Wilks cannot help himself but to dial up pressure and that is something that has been severely lacking with the 49ers under both Saleh and Ryans over the years. A lot of what the 49ers run on defense is to play strict coverage with soft zones to allow their pass rush to get there, but it's such a hit or miss style of defense. What happens in a game where the pass rush is being neutralized? This is where having Wilks can help improve the 49ers on defense.

“I think you have to embrace the success that they've had here," said Wilks. "I think it is a foundation that we all agree we wanted to keep and I think it is an opportunity as we go through the process, which we already have, to try to tweak things a little bit. I still think there's room for improvement. If you talk to the players, they would tell you the same, so when it's not broke, you don't really want to try to fix it and once again, we've had a lot of success around here and we just want to continue to build on that.”

I also wouldn't be surprised to see the 49ers have an uptick in man-to-man coverage. Wilks is defensive backs oriented whereas his predecessors were linebacker oriented. He might end up being the best defensive coordinator the 49ers have had in getting excellent production out of their secondary. Either way, it is going to be quite the ride to see where the 49ers look the same on defense and how they differ with Wilks. It should be to their benefit.

“I think you have to explore and experiment with everything. My background is diverse in zone as well as man, and I think it can change each week based off your opponent and who you playing. Do I feel like we have the skillset to play more man? Yes. At times, do I want to be a little bit more aggressive with the talent and athleticism that we have at linebacker? Yes"