Originally posted by thl408:
When Kwon got injured, it was viewed as a huge loss for the 2019 defense. Unexpectedly, Dre stepped in to admirably fill Kwon's shoes to close the regular season, and even had his own epic highlight moment to help the 49ers clinch the #1 seed.
Since the 3rd LB is considered a role player nowadays with defense in nickel so often, one of these players will be on the sideline 67% of the time. I think there's a valid discussion to be had regarding which player should be playing alongside Warner in 2020.
This is my rough breakdown of which player excels in which area when compared to one another:
Coverage: Kwon
Run defense: Dre
Tackling: Dre
Blitzing: Kwon
Ball skills: Tie
Leadership: Kwon
The categories should be weighted differently so it's not as simple as saying, "Kwon is better at three things, Dre is better at two, so Kwon is better".
Who do you think will be the starting weakside backer in 2020?
Who do you think should be the starting weakside backer in 2020?
I think the above is very fair and accurate. I also remember the yr before Kwon arrived, we had a hole...a big, huge , massive hole. And it was the hole right across the middle which in previous few yrs just killed us. Need 5 yds on 3rd down? 4 yards on 3rd down? How about 7 yards?. Throw it right across our middle and i don't recall ONE TIME we stopped it.
Enter Kwon. That b.s. stopped and i mean like NOW. It just stopped. Finally we had somebody who could stop that infernal dam pass across the middle. One game, it could have been anybody because anybody could pass all day on us across the middle on 3rd down, we didn't stop one 3rd down attempt. Our opponents were perfect. It was when CJ was QB and we had that long losing string. Every single pass was completed on 3rd down, and you could literally map out where the ball was going. It was the most grotesque thing i recall about that first yr. But once Kwon arrived...it just flat out stopped.
So we can compare ball skills between the two, tackling, blitzing, run D...anything. But the one thing that Kwon brot us was no mas across the dang middle.
Dre is fantastic on Run D and yes, better than Kwon. And Dre isn't bad at coverage, it is just that teams don't pass on Kwon across the middle. Oh, they may try but he is pretty much money on anything thrown across the middle.....$$$ discrepancy , sure is a consideration. But occasionally i see a post that says we should go with Dre full time, and dont need Kwon. To those fans all one can say is remember BEFORE Kwon got here what it was like to watch SEA , LA, AZ , heck anybody, just go to the pass across the gut and it was a gimme for them. So here is one vote for Kwon as THE man to keep that middle clean and clear. Please , never let us get in a situation again where every opponent's " must have" 3rd down pass play goes across the middle and we couldn't stop it. Kwon can and did.
Thl, your 2 questions are good ones and IDK the answer. But on 3rd and 4 to 3rd and 8, i feel a lot more comfortable wiht Kwon in there than anyone else. He will prevent that 3rd down completion. Dre may also, but Kwon is the guy i want keeping that middle clean.
