NFL
By: Rick O’Donnell
The San Francisco 49ers were on top of the world in 2023 but in 2024 they took a nose dive. They went from a winning record of 12-5 to just half of those wins in 2024. Now they’re back to the drawing board and trying to make fixes. One of those changes started with the rehiring of Robert Saleh as Defensive Coordinator after being with the team from 2017-2020 before being poached by the New York Jets as their new Head Coach.
Now the Jets have moved on and Saleh is back with the Niners, after a brief stint consulting with the Green Bay Packers. What exactly will he bring back to SF to help them get back on top?
As much as Jets fans will hate to admit it, Saleh wasn’t the problem in New York. He did at times make some questionable calls, but all coaches do. The Jets were just a team that was a mess from the start and just because Saleh was captain of the ship, doesn’t mean he controlled the waters. From the top down, they were dysfunctional from the start and Robert Saleh was the scapegoat for the Aaron Rodgers show. Woody Johnson spent a lot of money bringing in Rodgers and his favorite players and had nothing to show for it, so Saleh had to be the problem.
So how does that translate to the 49ers? It doesn’t. Niners fans shouldn’t look to his failures in New York as a detriment to the team going forward. The Jets hitched his wagon to Zach Wilson and an aging Aaron Rodgers. Their defense was solid. Not only did they manage a top defense, it seemed to fall apart after Saleh’s departure. The 49ers were bad the years that Saleh was in San Francisco but it was in large part due to their inconsistency at quarterback. He’s returning to a team that ranked in the top 10 in total defense, allowed the 5th fewest passing yards, but 18th in run defense. Despite that “success” in terms of overall defense, the 49ers were 28th in total points allowed in 2024 which needs to be fixed. When a team allows 25 points per game on average, it makes an injured offense have to produce that much more.
Saleh needs to bring the ability to win the turnover battle back to San Fran. Last year they turned the ball over 27 times while only taking it away 17. Combine that with the fact that opponents were scoring on them at 25 points per game and it’s easy to see why they only won 6 games this year.
There’s plenty to fix for the San Francisco 49ers. They’re in good shape as far as cap space goes heading into free agency. If they can spend freely and rebuild a defense to Saleh’s liking, it won’t be a long turnaround. It would only take getting a few good pass rushers to add to current talent and some good coverage defensive backs in a Saleh scheme would build a defense that could overcome the offensive struggles. Stop the run game, stop the scoring, and the Niners are right back in the hunt for their division.
