Niners Nation
It’s been a challenging season for San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. We saw the potential of what a healthy defense could look like in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks when they held that offense to 13 points. Since then, no team has kept the Seahawks under 20 points. There have been four occasions where Seattle scored at least 31 points.
But that was with Nick Bosa. Fred Warner was still manning the middle. First-round pick Mykel Williams was starting to flash. On Thursday, Saleh said every season is exhausting, whether you’re healthy or not. He elected to look at the development and growth of the players on the field during this season as opposed to looking back at the injuries.
One player the Niners will get back who they can expect to contribute is Bryce Huff, who Saleh called a closer: “Bryce is a closer. When you’re sitting there in the fourth quarter and you need a play and you need it now and the speed at which he can do it, having guys like that are invaluable.”
The 49ers have a second half of football to play. Defensively, they don’t have a vocal leader. But with the added injuries, that leader could be born during the second half of the season. In Saleh’s eyes, he has an idea of who it could be, but didn’t want to put a name on it:
“That’s the exciting part. I mentioned it a couple weeks ago, when we were here in ‘17 and ‘18, I was like, ‘well, who’s going to be next?’ You saw this little skinny linebacker named Fred Warner. No one expected it to be him. And you know, [Houston Texans S] Jimmie Ward and [former 49ers S Jaquiski] Tartt and [Indianapolis Colts DL DeForest] Buckner and [Jacksonville Jaguars DL Arik] Armstead, all those guys were so young, [former CB] K’Waun Williams was young. They all rose to the occasion and made a name for themselves. So, this group being as young as it is, I wish I could tell you. I have an idea. But, I’m excited for everybody to take advantage of their opportunity and to evolve into the player that we all know they’re capable of.”
My guesses are Dee Winters or Malik Mustapha. While both are effectively in their second seasons (Winters didn’t play much at all as a rookie), they play pivotal roles in the defense where you’re forced to communicate. When you’re the one doing the talking and making the calls, players tend to look at you as a leader.
Cornerbacks are on an island, so I don’t know if Renardo Green or Deommodore Lenoir qualifies. Kyle Shanahan and Saleh have spoken highly about Green and his work during the past couple of weeks. Shanahan said Green is coming off his best week of the season. Saleh believes Green has taken a big step, dating back a couple of games:
“He has had a really good last two...
