Romello Height's Fit in the 49ers Defense Requires One Key Adjustment

This is important.

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The San Francisco 49ers' switch from a Robert Saleh defense to a Raheem Morris defense could end up being very notable. Saleh has a very specific way of playing, and Morris might be a little more versatile. The differences could be highlighted in the team's selection of Texas Tech edge rusher Romello Height in the third round of the 2026 NFL draft. 

San Francisco 49ers drafting Romello Height speaks to a scheme change on defense

Never is a strong word, but it is fair to say that the 49ers never would have drafted Height under Saleh. He is not a scheme fit or his type of rusher. Height is a little undersized, at 240 pounds. He had a lot of his pass-rushing snaps standing up, which Saleh would never do with wide-9 front looks. Also, Height would drop into coverage at times. 

Height dropped back into coverage 46 times last year and has 133 coverage snaps over the course of his career, per PFF. That does not sound like a lot, but the 49ers' combination of Bryce Huff, Sam Okuayinonu, Mykel Williams, Keion White, Yetur Gross-Matos, Clelin Ferrell, Robert Beal, Nick Bosa, and Trevis Gipson all combined to drop into coverage just 45 times last year. So, needless to say, if Height were in coverage 46 times as a rookie, it would be a pretty drastically different-looking defense than last year. 

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The good news with Morris is that he has a history with a lot of different defensive looks. So, he can run looks that Saleh would run, and that would fit the 49ers personnel from last year. However, with Height in the mix, he can also change things up and show different looks that Saleh was uncomfortable with. 

The drawback to this can be that he is asking a lot from his players. There is already a lot to process on the field, so Saleh simplifies things to make his defense play fast. Meanwhile, Morris would be mixing up looks, changing coverages and personnel, and making the players who just ran a more simplistic scheme last year change their course of thinking. 

So, it could take some ups and downs as the players work through the adjustment and get better at processing things. It is clear with the drafting of Height that this change is on, though. Morris definitely had a big say in drafting Height. Now, we will see how it all comes together.