The Revenge of Robert Saleh

Originally posted by Jeepzilla:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Love seeing Kwon and Warner being hype men after the hit, Kwon is going to bring a swag this defense needed 💪🏽 https://t.co/M5f8II2ZxG

— jgrover1533 (@jgrover1533) August 11, 2019

Defense could be special...IF they get and stay healthy.

Thought Azeez Al-Shaair played a good game

He did. He has a chance to displace Elijah Lee.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Jeepzilla:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Love seeing Kwon and Warner being hype men after the hit, Kwon is going to bring a swag this defense needed 💪🏽 https://t.co/M5f8II2ZxG

— jgrover1533 (@jgrover1533) August 11, 2019

Defense could be special...IF they get and stay healthy.

Thought Azeez Al-Shaair played a good game

He did. He has a chance to displace Elijah Lee.

Completely agree. Lee was absolutely horrendous in the game -- and then got hurt.

Saleh's head grows a little more each time there's a QB pressure.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:

Completely agree. Lee was absolutely horrendous in the game -- and then got hurt.

Very poor recognition for him for sure.

Originally posted by NCommand:
Saleh's head grows a little more each time there's a QB pressure.

Then, it shrinks when no one can make a play on the ball.

Originally posted by Heroism:
thl,
Did you see how the new three stack LBs in base affect our cover 3? I forgot to watch for this during the broadcast and didn't record the game. Is the SAM still dropping all the way to the flat in cover 3?

I just checked it out. SAM is now playing Hook. Strong safety played the strong curl/flat. This is what you mentioned during the offseason. This and how they are no longer a 5 man front stood out when watching.

This is what we saw a lot of the past two seasons. 4-3 Under, a five man front against opposing 21/12 personnel. SAM lines up over the TE and plays the strongside curl/flat. The two Hook players are the WILL and MIKE. Strong Safety is weakside curl/flat.





-----
I don't think I saw them line up once with a 5 man front vs DAL. At least not the "starters". SAM is now an off the ball Hook player. The SAM is now quicker, less stronger compared to what was desired from the 17-18 defense that ran a lot of 4-3 Under where the SAM was asked to set the edge against an inline TE. Strong Safety plays to the TE side.


SAM is now playing a Hook and needs to be quick to react to anything over the middle.

Originally posted by thl408:

This is what we saw a lot of the past two seasons. 4-3 Under, a five man front against opposing 21/12 personnel. SAM lines up over the TE and plays the strongside curl/flat. The two Hook players are the WILL and MIKE. Strong Safety is weakside curl/flat.





-----
I don't think I saw them line up once with a 5 man front vs DAL. At least not the "starters". SAM is now an off the ball Hook player. The SAM is now quicker, less stronger compared to what was desired from the 17-18 defense that ran a lot of 4-3 Under where the SAM was asked to set the edge against an inline TE. Strong Safety plays to the TE side.


SAM is now playing a Hook and needs to be quick to react to anything over the middle.

Excellent visual. Thanks thl... we ARE W9.

Originally posted by zonkers:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Saleh's head grows a little more each time there's a QB pressure.

Then, it shrinks when no one can make a play on the ball.

Goooood stuff, thl! The LBs are designated exactly how we discussed.

Does this mean Fred Warner is now technically a "SAM" in this new scheme? Same position, but new name?

Originally posted by NCommand:
Excellent visual. Thanks thl... we ARE W9.

I didn't pay close attention to see if the 49ers were always in a wide9, but I can tell they are no longer a 5 man front like they used to be (small sample, one preseason game). I'm sure there will be times when the 49ers come with an Over front and it might look like wide 9 from the broadcast view, with the only way to tell is by looking at where the DE is lined up with respect to the TE. If the strong DE over the TE, it's most likely an Over front. If he's wide of the TE, then it could be wide9. Another sign is the NT and if he's playing 2i (wide9) or 1t (Over front), but that's hard to tell from broadcast.

In this pic, the strongside DE looks like he's over the TE so I think this might be an Over front, although the WR aligned tight to the formation might be affecting how that DE lines up. The main point of this cutup is to show how the LBs are now all off the ball and how the zone assignments of the SAM/WILL/SS is different compared to when they ran 4-3 Under.

Originally posted by thl408:
I didn't pay close attention to see if the 49ers were always in a wide9, but I can tell they are no longer a 5 man front like they used to be (small sample, one preseason game). I'm sure there will be times when the 49ers come with an Over front and it might look like wide 9 from the broadcast view, with the only way to tell is by looking at where the DE is lined up with respect to the TE. If the strong DE over the TE, it's most likely an Over front. If he's wide of the TE, then it could be wide9. Another sign is the NT and if he's playing 2i (wide9) or 1t (Over front), but that's hard to tell from broadcast.

In this pic, the strongside DE looks like he's over the TE so I think this might be an Over front, although the WR aligned tight to the formation might be affecting how that DE lines up. The main point of this cutup is to show how the LBs are now all off the ball and how the zone assignments of the SAM/WILL/SS is different compared to when they ran 4-3 Under.

It's going to take some time for me to get used to that 4-4 alignment. That looks sooo weird now lol.

Originally posted by Heroism:
Goooood stuff, thl! The LBs are designated exactly how we discussed.

Does this mean Fred Warner is now technically a "SAM" in this new scheme? Same position, but new name?

Extremely similar. The SAM and MIKE are now much more similar to each other than they are to the WILL if I understand it correctly. I'm talking pass coverage. Last season, the MIKE and WILL were very similar.

Originally posted by Heroism:
It's going to take some time for me to get used to that 4-4 alignment. That looks sooo weird now lol.

Yeah for real. They are basically sacrificing run defense for better coverage, pulling a LB away from the LoS to be in better position for coverage (more depth). The SAM needs to be fast, and quick just like a MIKE/WILL. If not, teams will exploit him over the middle.

Originally posted by thl408:
Yeah for real. They are basically sacrificing run defense for better coverage, pulling a LB away from the LoS to be in better position for coverage (more depth). The SAM needs to be fast, and quick just like a MIKE/WILL. If not, teams will exploit him over the middle.

I don't think I can remember a time when the 49ers didn't play a 5-man base front. I was too young during the 90s to really say I can remember those days. It's been a 5-man front for around 15 years, no?

That new alignment is so weird and will take some time to get used to lol. But I like it!