In his last season as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator, DeMeco Ryans oversaw a defense that finished first in the NFL, including second against the run.
In his first season as the Texans’ head coach, Ryans inherited a defense that finished 30th, including last against the run.
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In 2022 when they finished 13-4 and lost the NFC Championship Game to Philadelphia when they ran out of healthy quarterbacks, the 49ers surrendered 300.6 yards and 77.7 rushing. That’s 78.9 fewer yards per game than the Texans allowed. And the Texans gave up 92.5 more yards a game rushing than San Francisco.
One thing that made San Francisco’s defensive performance so impressive was Ryans received an outstanding performance from his defensive backs and linebackers. The 49ers beefed up their defense by using three first-round draft choices on linemen because they emphasized pressuring the quarterback.
Of Ryans’ linebackers and defensive backs, the only one drafted in the first two rounds was safety/nickel back Jimmie Ward, a first-round pick in 2014 and the longest-tenured 49er. Ward followed Ryans to the Texans and has become a team leader who’s mentoring teammates in the secondary.
Other than Ward, Ryans didn’t have a cornerback drafted in the first round like Derek Stingley Jr. or a safety selected in the second like Jalen Pitre. Of the 49ers’ back-seven players, the best are linebackers Fred Warner (third round), linebacker Dre Greenlaw (fifth) and strong safety Talanoa Hufanga (fifth).
If Ryans can help Warner, Greenlaw and Hufanga become such productive players, imagine the opportunity he and defensive coordinator Matt Burke have to mold talent like Stingley and Pitre – drafted third and 37th overall last year. Pitre was one of five players to start 17 games and recorded the second-most tackles by a rookie in team history. The only rookie with more? Ryans in 2006. Stingley showed promise but struggled with a hamstring injury that ended his season after nine starts.
Going into their second season, Pitre has to miss fewer tackles, and Stingley has to stay healthy and start to prove he was worth the third pick in the first round. Both have big-time talent, terrific work ethics and a hunger to impress their teammates and coaches.
“Pitre and Stingley, those guys fit any defense because they're both playmakers,” Ryans said during OTAs. “They're instinctive. They're fast. They're physical, and they love playing football. They like to play with their hair on fire. Any defense we play, anything I call, those guys are going to make it work because they’re such great players, and they love playing the game.”
Most players show their biggest improvement between their first and second seasons. Stingley and Pitre should be no different. As Burke points out, they’ll be in a different system and playing some different coverages. Both are healthy and lapping up the offseason program that ends next week with the mandatory two-day minicamp.
“Sting has been able to do everything we've asked him to do,” Burke said. “We’re playing some different coverages and some different techniques than he played last year, and he's been good fitting into that stuff. I'm happy where he is, where he's been working.”
It’s a rarity for a cornerback to be drafted as high as Stingley, who’s expected to excel in man coverage after playing a lot of zone as a rookie. He was rehabbing a foot injury he suffered at LSU in the offseason program and training camp, so he got off to a slow start. Cornerbacks coach Dino Vasso coached Singley as a rookie. He knows what Stingley is capable of doing. The coaches have high expectations for him.
“Hopefully, he's a corner we feel good about and whatever coverage matchups we get to,” Burke said. “Whether we get to the point where we feel good about isolating him or not, that's obviously stuff down the road we'll get to. We're just kind of playing our base techniques and trying to get him right, so we haven't really got into matching guys or flipping dudes or any of that type of thing. We're just asking Sting to keep progressing and getting better at what we're asking him to do right now.”
Ryans, Burke and safeties coach Stephen Adegoke, who followed Ryans from San Francisco, expect big things from Pitre, who led the team with 147 tackles and five interceptions.
“Great -- literally,” Burke described Pitre. “Doesn't say much in the meeting rooms but super-communicative on the field. DeMeco has a team meeting pretty much every morning, kind of recapping some of the stuff that happened from the day before, and Jalen finishing (plays) and (his) effort show up on that tape probably as much as anybody.
“I'm not going to discount anybody else, but just the way he approaches finishing every play in practice, being in good position. As a deep safety, sometimes runs in practice kind of squirt through. We want our offensive guys finishing downfield, but Jalen is always there like getting to a hip, finishing in good position. To see him train those habits consistently like that is just really cool.
“What you saw on the field last year – (it’s) like the fruits of those labors. He practices with intent, and he's very deliberate in everything he does.”
Pitre may benefit from Ward’s experience more than any defensive back. Ward brought nine years of experience from the 49ers and has been willing to tutor any player who asks.
“He's been great in that (secondary) room working with a guy like Jalen, kind of helping that growth along,” Burke said. “Jimmie has been great, and he looks like he's about 25 right now.”
Helping mentor players like Pitre and Stingley has rejuvenated Ward’s career. When Ward played for the 49ers last season, opponents’ passer rating was 82.7. That rating was tied for fifth in the NFL. Guess who the 82.7 was tied with? If you guessed the Texans, go to the head of the class.
John McClain can be heard Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday on SportsRadio 610 and Thursday on Texans Radio. He writes three columns a week and does two Houtopia Football Podcasts for SportsRadio610.com.