A Look at the San Francisco 49ers Defense

The New York Giants take on a San Francisco 49ers defense this week that has been decimated by injuries to their starting lineup.

The 49ers will be without edge rusher Bryce Huff, their leading pass rusher so far this season, due to an injury.

Rookie Mykel Williams will likely take on a larger role than he’s already played so far. More help will be required from Sam Okuayinonu, Trevis Gipson, and Robert Beal Jr.on the edge.

Outside of Huff, who’s out injured and expected to miss this week’s game, Nick Bosa, who’s out for the season, and Yetur Gross-Matos, who’s questionable for Sunday, this 49ers edge room has been nothing short of underwhelming this year.

The injuries to the top three edge rushers have led to players who are generally quality depth to play significant roles.

As far as pass-rushing goes, there have been few units worse than the 49ers off the edge, and the interior hasn’t been much better.

The interior of the defensive line features heavy rotation depending on the situation, but has not been particularly impressive this year.

Starting defensive tackle Jordan Elliott suffered an injury against the Houston Texans, and his status is still up in the air for this game.

Elliot hasn’t exactly been good this year, but he was the best of a bad bunch for this defensive line that just added Keion White from the New England Patriots in a trade.

It’s unclear how much of a role White will be able to play this week, considering he just joined the defense, but he should provide rushing upside on the interior if he can play.

Alfred Collins, Kalia Davis, and Kevin Givens will make up most of the snaps on the interior, which isn’t a good sign for the 49ers.

The 49ers have also sustained injuries at linebacker, with Fred Warner ruled out for the remainder of the season and starting linebacker Dee Winters leaving the Texans game early and questionable for this Sunday.

Tatum Bethune was the starter who took over for Warner when he got injured, and it’s expected that Curtis Robinson or Luke Gifford will take over for Winters’ snaps.

Just like the defensive front, because of injuries, the 49ers’ linebacker room is significantly worse than it would be if they were healthy.

Bethune can still make an impact due to his athleticism and versatility, but he’s a second-year player finding his place.

In the secondary, Demmodore Lenoir and Renardo Green will be the starters on the outside with Upton Stout in the nickel, and Malik Mustapha and Ji’Ayir Brown at safety.

Defensive back play hasn’t been strong for the 49ers either this year, but a large part of that is having no pass rush in front of them to help.

It doesn’t matter how talented a secondary is; they can only play in coverage for so long before they break down. On film, Lenoir is consistent, and Green has shown flashes, but they’re still being set up to fail.

Sep 28, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh walks off of the field after the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Levi’s Stadium. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh isn’t a big fan of blitzing often, as the 49ers have one of the lowest blitz rates in the NFL.

Unfortunately, when rushing four, this defense has been completely unable to generate pressure, with a pressure rate of 25.9%, the lowest in the NFL.

Saleh is much more interested in playing bend-don’t-break defense with cover three and variations of quarters before making the shift to cover one robber on third down.

The 49ers will play both cover four in quarters and cover six, the latter being cover four to the strong side and cover two to the weak side.

Cover one robber with man coverage across the board, one safety playing deep coverage over the top, and one safety coming down in an underneath zone.

The Giants’ defense also often plays cover one robber; however, with a respectable pass rush, they can get away with it. 

When the 49ers do choose to blitz, it’s mostly been with Winters or Stout, but with Winters out, I expect Bethune to be the blitzer.

When healthy, this 49ers defense is much more respectable, but the simple fact is that they aren’t healthy.

This should be one of the easiest tests of the season for the Giants’ offensive line, and Dart should have more time than just about any other game.

Depending on who’s available and who isn’t, the Giants’ offensive game plan could shift to attack depth players who are playing significant roles.

Look for the Giants to attack this linebacker room with tight ends and running backs, as well as run to the edges against depth.

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