San Francisco guess in opposition to the Raiders — it is already paying off
SANTA CLARA – The 49ers were in a bind this off-season. With the salary cap unchanged and big contracts already being given out to elite players, they needed a way to turn a little money into a big return.
So the Niners went to Las Vegas.
And – you see – things actually worked out.
The 49ers’ defensive line is the heartbeat of their team. In 2019, when San Francisco went to the Super Bowl, the Niners’ fast and furious line went eight, nine players down, and wreaked havoc on their opponents.
The Niners feel that the team’s defensive line is back to 2019 levels. Much of that confidence comes from the return of Nick Bosa and the advent of Javon Kinlaw, but part of it is getting this team serious with two – maybe now three – former Raiders players who have been cheaply signed this off-season Has depth.
“You know, we didn’t expect Arden Key and Hurst to become available, but the Raiders made a decision and we pounced on it,” said 49ers General John Lynch at the start of the training camp. “We think they are good football players who can help us. And the more depth of quality we can add at this point is, in our opinion, a good thing for us. And they know that they come here and get coached. They know we have a philosophy that enables these guys to shine and they know that they will be surrounded by quality players. ”
Lynch’s comments look prophetic as preseason game # 1 shows up on Saturday.
For those who haven’t spent much time in Napa or Alameda, Hurst was the surprise of the Niners defense at this training camp. Hurst isn’t the best all-around defensive tackle – he’s a bit smaller and his hands aren’t heavy – but he has one skill that is seriously polished and exceptionally valuable: he shoots the gap.
I’ve seen 11v11 drills too often at training camp to count – Hurst is breaking the line of scrimmage so quickly you turn to the umpires right away. No, he wasn’t offside, but now he’s behind the offensive and in the backcourt. The game is over for the offense.
Hurst may not be an all-down tackle – he won’t push back doubles or knock an anchored guard into the ground – but it’s easy to imagine he’s on the field when passing downs or if it’s a guard and center combination that the Niners want to take advantage of. He’s proven to be a great fit for the 49ers ‘all-gas, no-breaks’ front and is a significant upgrade over Solomon Thomas who has been one such player for the 49ers in recent years.
The Raiders signed Thomas last off-season and effectively voted him over Hurst. The Niners have been enthusiastic about this de facto deal so far. Meanwhile, reports from Nevada suggest Thomas may be on the chopping block.
The Raiders also ran Key – an LSU product that was considered a potential first-round pick ahead of a worrying 2017 season on the Bayou – this off-season. The Raiders picked him in the third round of the 2018 draft and threw him in the fire when they traded Khalil Mack for the bears.
To say that Key struggled with the Raiders would be an understatement for Raiders fans. It seemed that he could never translate his superior athleticism into effective rushes, only registering three sacks in 27 games.
But the film tells a different story – Key has heavy, lineman-agile hands and impressive movements, and leans over the edge. He’s a solid pass rusher when in the right position.
That wasn’t the case in Oakland or Las Vegas. Key said this weekend that he was playing a “tight-five” technique with the Raiders, which means standing face to face or just off the shoulder of the offensive tackle.
With the Niners, he’s Bosa’s backup on “Wide-Nine,” which means he’s outside the tight end.
“I wanted out of there,” Key said of the Raiders. “It was just all bad for me. Bad system. It just wasn’t right for me. I had to get out. ”
Playing Key at the 5 technique seems so ridiculous, given his speed and one-on-one ability, that I thought he exaggerated at this press conference. But I attended a couple of Raiders games for 2020 over the weekend and in fact it was Key who lined up for Snap across from the tackle snap.
However, that is the raiders’ system. We can discuss the merits of different defense fronts on another day.
For now, I’ll say that Key is in a better position for his skills and he looked like a solid plunge for the Niners in 2021.
The Niners are so excited about the Raiders’ committees that they signed another one this week – Shilique Calhoun, the third round of the Raiders in 2016. He’s facing a serious climb to reach the roster, but he could be a practice man for its San Francisco this year. But why not roll the dice again?
The Niners ‘strategy of signing the former Raiders’ defensive linemen is reminiscent of something the Warriors did in their first season at the Chase Center. It was never officially declared in a press conference or post-game huddle, but in the post-Kevin Durant era the Warriors tried to exploit the worst teams in basketball at the time – the Suns and the Timberwolves.
The Dubs signed Marquese Chriss because they were sure that his original team, the Suns, had no idea how to develop him at the age of 19. Chris has had two solid seasons for the dubs.
The Warriors later traded for Andrew Wiggins in what turned out to be number 7 in the NBA draft last month because they bet the Timberwolves weren’t competent enough to maximize Wiggins talent or avoid a bad season. You were right on both counts.
The Niners are doing the same thing to the Raiders here. You rely on talent.
They’re also betting on something I’m sure most Raiders fans will echo: the Raiders defensive coaches didn’t know what they were doing with this talent.
The Niners feel confirmed in their bets at this early point in the season. Both Hurst and Key signed one-year contracts for $ 1,045,000 – starvation wages for solid depth on the teams’ key positions.
The only question now is how much return the Niners can get on these investments and whether that win can bring them a trip to Los Angeles in February.
