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Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks is a Problem for the 49ers

The defense in general and the pass rush in particular were supposed to get even better. But they haven't. And now people are looking at new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks for answers.

Grant Cohn

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Steve Wilks took over an elite 49ers defense and made it mediocre.

It currently ranks 8th in the NFL in yards allowed, which is a big disappointment considering all the 49ers have invested into their defense. Last season, the 49ers gave up the fewest yards and points of any defense in the NFL. Then this offseason, they added Javon Hargrave to the defensive line. The defense in general and the pass rush in particular were supposed to get even better.

But they haven't. And now people are looking at new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks for answers.

Suddenly, despite having Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, Randy Gregory and Hargrave, the 49ers pass rush is subpar. Last night against the Vikings, they sacked Kirk Cousins, a statue, a grand total of zero times. And for the season, the 49ers defense ranks 22nd out of 32 teams in pressure rate. That's not good.

When you dig deeper into the numbers, you see the 49ers rank 23rd in pressure rate when not blitzing, and 18th in pressure rating when they blitz. Which means they're bad at rushing the quarterback no matter how many defenders Wilks sends to sack the quarterback. They're not getting there. That reflects poorly on Wilks.

Whatever he's designing and calling isn't working. And he has no excuses, because he has great pass rushers.

It's important to remember that Wilks is a defensive backs coach at heart, and so his expertise is coverage, not creating pressure. The previous two defensive coordinators, DeMeco Ryans and Robert Saleh, were linebacker coaches at heart.

The 49ers might need a new defensive coordinator a.s.a.p.

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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