Is 49ers’ young defense ready as NFL evolves ‘back to the run game’?

SANTA CLARA Nick Bosa sagely gave pass-rushing tips to rookie Mykel Williams off to the side as Thursday s practice began just over a week until the ers season starts That combination punch the Bosa-Williams merger and their sack-seeking technique very well could lead their defensive front s resurgence But before the ers can chase down quarterbacks their new cast of defenders must rediscover the franchise s standard of first stopping the run especially at run-oriented depots in Seattle and New Orleans to start the season Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is aware of that He s sensed a shift in the NFL from pass-happy offenses back to old-school ground games churning out yards-and-a-cloud-of-synthetic-turf-pellets Teams are going more to running You kind of feel that Saleh commented Thursday All of us on defense are sitting back playing two-shell with deep safeties I do think these coordinators are starting to get back to running the football and establishing that to get people from playing two-shell It does seem the evolution is going back to the run event The ers gave him a rude awakening in that last year when Saleh began his fourth and soon-to-be-final season as the New York Jets coach Coach Kyle Shanahan dialed up runs for yards in a - win It was like a punch in the mouth in Week last year Saleh recalled The ers kept defensive linemen on their initial -man roster They ve made no secret that front-four front-five is key to a franchise turnaround from last season s last-place funk The defensive line like too a multitude of other units was not at full strength for Thursday s practice Neither Kalia Davis and Yetur Gross-Matos were in the opening D-line drills But this rebooted line did have Williams Alfred Collins and C J West three of their top-five draft picks lining up and looking like capable starters along with Bosa defensive tackle Jordan Elliott and pass-rush specialist Bryce Huff Williams Collins and West all missed time with injuries to hinder their advance since the NFL Draft Remember when Nick Bosa missed his rookie training camp and turned out alright It s presumably more of an outlier right Saleh commented It s never ideal They re rookies They re going to have bumps We ll have to coach our butts off The good news it s a really cool group of young men deliberate in their approach Saleh is bracing for growing pains acknowledging that the interior defensive line offers cruel initiations to rookies in terms of blocking combinations and the strongest people they ve ever gone against Opponents ran for yards per challenge and the ers allowed five -yard rushers in the final seven games I d like to say we have an idea the way it s going to look and how we rotate our guys But that can change after Week Saleh added We re going to roll out the dice next Sunday and see how it works RECEIVER ROULETTE Five quick notes on the wide receiver wild means Marquez Valdes-Scantling debuted and officially was signed to the practice squad two days after the Seattle Seahawks circulated him despite a million guaranteed deal in the spring The receiver who did get added to the ers -man roster was Russell Gage Jr He got cut Tuesday and worked out on the side Thursday while recovering from a knee sprain in camp Ricky Pearsall the ers No wide receiver by both production and default appeared to require restoration on a foot heel blister after warmups It didn t appear anything serious but anything about this unit is cause for alarm Jauan Jennings remains out of view and has not practiced since July General manager John Lynch did not add much onto Wednesday s comments about Jennings calf and trade-request denial but Lynch did say on KNBR -AM Hopefully this thing has a resolution and he s back on the field and will be rolling There s couple issues at play and those things settle themselves Jordan Watkins ankle worked out on the side as did Jacob Cowing who went on Injured Reserve on Wednesday and is out at least the first four games VALDES-SCANTLING S CHOICE Wedged between the lockers of Bosa and Williams is that of Valdes-Scantling a deep-threat wide receiver who was surprised Tuesday when the Seahawks cut him seeing how they guaranteed him million in the spring to come over from the New Orleans Saints with offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak Once adrift Valdes-Scantling chose beteween the Pittsburgh Steelers and the ers the latter of whom pursued him in after his rookie contract expired with the Packers and again after his - Chiefs tenure It was between here and Pittsburgh I have a good relationship with Aaron Rodgers over there and he yearned me back Valdes-Scantling reported It was a toss-up a I had to weigh my options see what I demanded to do and see what would be better in my career at this point I was excited about it The ers allure went beyond playing in an offensive system similar to what Valdes-Scantling was in with the New Orleans Saints and the Seahawks Another was being able to get on the field right away Valdes-Scantling disclosed alluding to the ers receiver attrition by injury and suspension As for catching Brock Purdy s long ball Valdes-Scantling noted He s lighting it up for a reason He s been really good since he got in the league he s led a bunch of categories he s very efficient and he throws a good football I m excited Related Articles ers to wear updated black uniform as part of NFL s Rivalries series ers concede Jauan Jennings absence may be about more than his calf injury Santa Clara says Super Bowl LX will cost million ers will mix and match radio play-by-play while Papa s away ers grab Seahawks outcast Marques Valdes-Scantling put Cowing on IR claim defensive tackle MORE TRANSACTIONS Quarterback Adrian Martinez formerly of the New York Jets debuted in the ers rotation behidn Brock Purdy and Mac Jones Martinez was signed to the practice squad as was running back Sincere McCormick Defensive tackle Evan Anderson cleared waivers and is expected to rejoin the ers on their practice squad