Defensive tackle is clearly the most important spot to improve on the 49ers’ roster. This isn’t new. This was a glaring issue even last offseason.
The 49ers had the wrong answers there. They went into the season with Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins, two players on the wrong side of 30 who are not run fitters. They are, as the 49ers have long preferred, gap splitters.
The 49ers encourage aggression by their defensive tackles. Drive upfield. Rip through. Attack. That’s the M.O. But that’s not sound.
That aggression, with players who are not stout enough to hold their own gap, let alone two, against a double team, allows teams to run gap scheme and DUO runs (double teams at the point of attack, and then a climb to the second level) at high rates with high efficiency. There was some promise from undrafted rookie Evan Anderson, but he's a very limited player without athleticism to bet on going forward.
Without great linebackers to fill in the run game, the scheme doesn’t work. Fred Warner got singled out all of last season because teams knew they didn’t need to worry about the 49ers’ other linebackers, and getting past the literal first line of defense would be easy.
No team, other than the Baltimore Ravens (55.4 percent) was run on between the tackles more than the San Francisco 49ers (54.6 percent) last season.
So, what’s the solution? Get back to basics. Eat your vegetables first. Get guys who are fundamentally sound in the run game, who can hold their own gap and disengage a block to attack a running lane, who can face a double team and avoid being displaced.
This is not to say the 49ers should eschew disruptors, or get one-way players. But they need to lay foundation to be able to build on it.
Jeremiah Ledbetter is someone I put out at the trade deadline as fitting this mold for cheap. He is a 30-year-old free agent who has never been paid more than $2 million per year. All he does is hold gaps and disrupt the run game. Go get him. See here.
Then look at the rest of the free agency market and decide whether it’s worth getting another veteran. D.J. Jones, Morgan Fox and B.J. Hill are all out there as higher end guys. But there are other stout options like Daniel Ekuale, Tershawn Wharton, Poona Ford and Teair Tart. But this takes a recognition from the 49ers’ brass that they need players whose main responsibility is not going to be driving upfield with a blind commitment. They are disruptors who maintain gap integrity, and stocking up on them is not a bad idea.
In the draft, you’ve got an interesting, deep defensive tackle class. It’s being made out as an exceedingly strong one, and that could prove true, but there are some popular names who are more questions than answers.
There are a lot of could-be greats like Kenneth Grant and Deone Walker and Alfred Collins, but they have steep downsides, too. There’s one clear guy at the top in Mason Graham, who may well be gone by the 49ers’ pick. After him, Walter Nolen from Ole Miss is a freak athlete who should be in consideration, maybe a bit later than No. 11.
This leaves out a ton of other intriguing players like Ohio State's Tyleik Williams, Oregon's Derrick Harmon, and some later-round players, especially those impressing at the East-West Shrine and Senior Bowls.
One guy who I think the 49ers should strongly consider taking at any point from the third round on is Texas defensive tackle Vernon Broughton. He is an absolute game wrecker and the lack of attention he has gotten is befuddling.
He is stout in the run game, and has astoundingly quick, forceful hands to shed blockers in the pass game. He reminds me a bit of Tart, with better contact balance. Maybe a mix of him, a stumpier, slower Kobie Turner. He’s excellent, and this is a situation where the 49ers need to stack talent at defensive tackle.
That's the thesis here. If the 49ers stack talent on the their lines, especially between the tackles, their roster will improve substantially next season. They need to get gap-sound veterans and consider taking multiple bites at the apple in the draft.