The NFL Trade Deadline came and passed on Tuesday, with the 49ers only making one acquisition last week, defensive end Keion White from the Patriots.
Lots of 49ers’ fans expected the front office to make an additional move to shore up their pass rush and defensive line, but the 1 PM came and went with no players added.
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Pass Rush Struggles Without Nick Bosa
San Francisco’s pass rush has deteriorated with the loss of defensive end Nick Bosa and it’ll be an area of weakness for this team moving forward, but it showed some signs of life on Sunday against the Giants.
They have been pushed down to become a bottom-five team in pressure and sack rates this season without Bosa.
New Additions and Emerging Contributors
Newly-added Clelin Ferrell generated a sack against Giants’ quarterback Jaxson Dart and White impressed in his debut even if his impact wasn’t felt in the box score. Per Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers are expected to get top pass-rusher Bryce Huff back from a hamstring tweak this week against the Rams as well.
Edge rusher Sam Okuayinonu has been awesome this season and per PFF, he’s had a higher pass-rush win rate than the likes of Jermaine Johnson, Bradley Chubb and Kayvon Thibodeaux. The 49ers are going to be leaning heavily on these guys and Robert Saleh’s timely blitzes to generate any sort of pass rush against the good teams.
Run Defense Showing Major Improvement
The biggest area of improvement that the 49ers will lean on is their run defense improvement from 2024. They’ve improved from a bottom-five run defense last season to a top-10 run defense this season, per EPA per rush allowed. If the 49ers’ defense can slow opposing offenses on early downs with their run defense, that will give them enough opportunities to rush the passer and create havoc.
Rising Stars on Defense
The other positive that’s going for the 49ers is the play of second-year linebacker Tatum Bethune. After taking over for Fred Warner, Bethune has done a stellar job of trying to fill a gigantic void left by Warner. He led the team (and league) with 16 tackles this past Sunday and he looks more and more comfortable with each passing week.
The other bright spot for the Robert Saleh’s unit has been the return of safety Malik Mustapha. The second-year safety is starting to return to his rookie-season form, including a huge solo tackle to save a touchdown. His physicality and presence in the back end have stabilized the rotation at safety, as the 49ers try to solidify the other safety spot.
Offense Must Carry the Load
Ultimately, this iteration of the 49ers is going to have to lean on its offense heavily to protect the defense. As George Kittle alluded to the reporters after week 9’s game, the 49ers’ offense has to score (and score again) for this team to have a chance to win games every week.
Health and Firepower on the Offensive Side
Luckily, their offense should continue to get healthy with the impending returns of wideout Ricky Pearsall, quarterback Brock Purdy and hopefully pass catcher Brandon Aiyuk. That side of the ball still has more-than-enough firepower to be a potent offense and needs to bring along their injured defense.
Special Teams: A Hidden Strength
Mix in a top-five special teams’ unit and a star kicker in Eddy Pineiro, the 49ers have plenty in the tank to be a playoff contender this season.
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