Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the forty nine Ers First and
Speaker 1: ten Podcast, ten minutes of the most up to date
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers news, First thing in the morning. I'm
Speaker 1: your host, Brionna McDonald, and I'm joined by forty nine
Speaker 1: Ers team reporter Lindsay Polares. As we work our way
Speaker 1: closer to training camp. Today we're talking forty nine Ers defense.
Speaker 1: San Francisco's defensive unit is going to look a bit
Speaker 1: different from last season as Demiko Ryans, the former forty
Speaker 1: nine Ers defensive coordinator and twenty twenty two Assistant Coach
Speaker 1: of the Year, departed shortly after the end of the
Speaker 1: season for a head coaching position with the Houston Texans,
Speaker 1: and that's where Steve Wilkes steps in. We've heard a
Speaker 1: lot about the type of flair Wilkes wants to bring
Speaker 1: to the team, and he's explained what his specialties are.
Speaker 1: But what have you heard from other members of the
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers about the type of coach Steve Wilkes
Speaker 1: is and how he fits in with the team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Brie, I think a lot of what we heard
Speaker 2: is that on the forty nine Ers side, they didn't
Speaker 2: want to have a drastic change from Demico Ryans, and
Speaker 2: that doesn't mean just in defensive philosophy. What we've heard
Speaker 2: since the very first time that general manager John Lynch
Speaker 2: addressed the media regarding Steve Bolts higher, there's a heavy
Speaker 2: diving into his personality. And one thing that I really
Speaker 2: like and that I've talked about with him is this
Speaker 2: notion of him being a leader of men and more
Speaker 2: importantly a leader of people. That he is a player's coach,
Speaker 2: and one of the first things he wanted to do
Speaker 2: was come in and establish personal relationships with the players
Speaker 2: because that way he has a respect built with the
Speaker 2: players he's working with day to day, and I do
Speaker 2: feel from what we've heard from the players that that
Speaker 2: mutual respect is already forming. We heard from linebacker Fred
Speaker 2: Warner who said it's been a seamless transition, which I
Speaker 2: think is just a really heavy endorsement, because Fred Warner
Speaker 2: absolutely love and respected Demiko Ryan, So to get that
Speaker 2: from him is really great.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I think Steve Wolks mentioned coming and doing a lot
Speaker 2: of just team bonding exercises, and I do think it's working.
Speaker 2: We also heard from defensive lineman Eric Armstead just calling
Speaker 2: out that he is a great leader. He's come in,
Speaker 2: you know, and ready to take control of that defense.
Speaker 2: And that's what you want. You want the endorsement of
Speaker 2: the leaders and the veterans on that defensive unit, and
Speaker 2: then also obviously just the effort that's been put forth
Speaker 2: to create those relationships.
Speaker 1: The forty nine Ers also hired a few other new
Speaker 1: faces to the team during the off season, including offensive
Speaker 1: passing game specialist Clint Kubiak and defensive quality control coaches
Speaker 1: Jake A. Webster and Cameron Brown. For more information on
Speaker 1: them and a complete list of the forty nine Ers
Speaker 1: coaching staff, check out the latest installment of the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three roster breakdown on forty nine ers dot com. Now.
Speaker 1: The team's motto for the defense heading into the season
Speaker 1: is that it starts upfront, and the forty nine Ers
Speaker 1: have built a stacked defensive line over the off season
Speaker 1: that highlights one of the team's biggest playmakers, Nick Bosa.
Speaker 1: NFL dot Com named Bosa a top ten franchise building block.
Speaker 1: Can you explain exactly what that means and how Nick
Speaker 1: Bosa is a fit for that title? Absolutely?
Speaker 2: Brief So this was an interesting ranking system that happened
Speaker 2: because when you say franchise building block, the analysts Bucky
Speaker 2: Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah wanted to zero in on players
Speaker 2: that are still young and coming into the prime of
Speaker 2: their careers, and that means underage twenty six one of
Speaker 2: the big specifications for them, so that the teams that
Speaker 2: they're a part of will continue to build rosters around them.
Speaker 2: So Nick Bosa checks every one of those boxes. He
Speaker 2: is under twenty six and is coming off a year
Speaker 2: in which he was named the ap NFL Defensive Player
Speaker 2: of the Year. We all know his stats, but all
Speaker 2: refreshed people's memories a little bit. Eighteen and a half sacks,
Speaker 2: led the league in sacks, fifty one total tackles, nineteen
Speaker 2: tackles for loss, forty eight quarterback hits, a pass defended,
Speaker 2: two forced fumbles. Just absolutely a career year for Nick Bosa.
Speaker 2: And on top of that, we've gotten to just hear
Speaker 2: how much players respect him and just his commitment to
Speaker 2: continue fine tuning his craft. And that is why he
Speaker 2: came in at number two. He was just behind Dallas
Speaker 2: Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons. Just an elite player and as
Speaker 2: you've seen and we've seen this free agency and off
Speaker 2: season is that the forty nine ers are building that
Speaker 2: defensive line around the talent that they've already got established.
Speaker 2: You've got Nick Bosa and Rick Armstead already there. They
Speaker 2: brought in Javon Hargrave to make that interior absolutely unstoppable.
Speaker 2: There's the development of Drake Jackson, and then you've got
Speaker 2: Carrie Hider Junior coming back as well. That is absolutely
Speaker 2: going to be a formidable defensive line in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 2: or at least that's what the team is hoping, and
Speaker 2: Nick Bosa is absolutely an anchor of that defensive line.
Speaker 1: Like you mentioned, Nick Bosa had an incredible twenty twenty
Speaker 1: two season en route to an NFC Championship game. He
Speaker 1: led the league in sacks, He earned a Pro Bowl nod,
Speaker 1: and was honored as the Defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 1: And something that stuck out actually in his acceptance speech
Speaker 1: for that award was that he's not done. What's the
Speaker 1: ceiling like Nick Bosa and how is he constantly elevating
Speaker 1: his game over each season.
Speaker 2: I think there is no ceiling for Nick Bosa.
Speaker 1: And we got to see.
Speaker 2: Him for the first time this off season when he
Speaker 2: came back with the rest of the veterans for Mini camp.
Speaker 2: He looks as if he's in mid season for he
Speaker 2: didn't practice. I guess I'm just talking about physical appearance.
Speaker 2: And you know, I don't know if anybody saw the
Speaker 2: funny meme creation that our creative team made of somebody
Speaker 2: photoshopping Nick Bosa's thighs onto George Kittle. He's absolutely built.
Speaker 2: He continues to look that way. And one thing that
Speaker 2: I remember head coach Kyle Shanahan said is that Nick
Speaker 2: Bosa is not a guy that you have to worry about.
Speaker 2: He spends most of his off season in South Florida
Speaker 2: with his brother, Joey Bosa. They work out together. These
Speaker 2: are not a couple players that are taking any days off,
Speaker 2: And in fact, Nick Bosa said that in the off
Speaker 2: season he's had to just learn to work in alternative
Speaker 2: forms of working out so that he can actually give
Speaker 2: his body time to heal, rejuvenate and get back to
Speaker 2: one hundred for the upcoming season and get ready for
Speaker 2: that big twenty twenty three season low that they're hoping
Speaker 2: to have. So I think he is absolutely got no ceiling.
Speaker 2: Expect more from him in twenty twenty three and I
Speaker 2: think a lot more good things to come for Nick Bosa,
Speaker 2: who is still on his first pro contract.
Speaker 1: Just behind that defensive line is a linebacker corps that
Speaker 1: we've seen is ready to go full speed after each snap.
Speaker 1: This year, San Francisco's linebackers rank at the top of
Speaker 1: the charts for Pro Football Focus. Tell us a little
Speaker 1: bit more about that ranking from PFF.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so PFF is taking into account just the many
Speaker 2: boxes that the linebacker role fills, which is both in
Speaker 2: coverage and against the run, And from what we've seen
Speaker 2: from the forty nine ers linebacker corps is that they
Speaker 2: can handle it all. And of course that position group
Speaker 2: is headlined by All Pro Fred Warner and also Dre Greenlaw,
Speaker 2: who I think is just continuing to build year over year.
Speaker 2: He just wrapped up his third season with the team,
Speaker 2: and they're absolutely the dynamic duo of the linebacker corps.
Speaker 2: So I don't think it's a coincidence that it's number
Speaker 2: one and two in tackles on the team right there,
Speaker 2: as he's al Shier was also part of that linebacker corps.
Speaker 2: Of course, he departed to the Tennessee Titans in free agency,
Speaker 2: so I think it's a great opportunity for someone like
Speaker 2: an Orin Berks and a Demetrius Flannigan Fowls, or a
Speaker 2: Marcelena McCrary ball or a Curtis Robinson or even some
Speaker 2: of the rookies De Winners and Jalen Graham to step up.
Speaker 2: There's going to be a lot of opportunity to continue
Speaker 2: and to grow in their careers because of that personnel change.
Speaker 2: But again, just an absolute force on the defense. Two
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty seven total tackles between Fred Warner and
Speaker 2: Dre Greenlaw. They earned a ninety point seven grade as
Speaker 2: a core against the run and eighty eight point five
Speaker 2: mark from PFF in coverage. They are absolutely I think
Speaker 2: we've heard this a lot, but the linebackers and particularly
Speaker 2: Fred Warner are the heartbeat of the defense, and I
Speaker 2: do think that is something that's pretty widely known on
Speaker 2: the defensive unit for the forty nine Ers.
Speaker 1: Things are definitely looking bright for the forty nine ers
Speaker 1: defense in twenty twenty three, But that will do it
Speaker 1: for today. Be sure to look out for all of
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers off season content on forty nine
Speaker 1: ers dot com. Thank you so much, Lindsey for joining
Speaker 1: me in this off season update. Don't forget to follow
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Speaker 1: when we post any breaking news updates. And thank you
Speaker 1: faithful for tuning in
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