Perhaps no coordinator in the NFL is under more pressure than Saleh, whom the 49ers pounced on in the offseason following his ...

The 49ers ranked 12th in defensive EPA per play and eighth in points per drive (1.67) in 2023. They were still a very good defense by most metrics, but they had lapses at inopportune times and ...

I wondered what the difference was between the 2024 starting defensive line for the 49ers and the projected starters this ...

Which means the 49ers' upcoming draft will be heavily defense-oriented. The last time the 49ers defense was this baren was 2017, which was Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch's first season with the team.

The 49ers are essentially starting over on defense this offseason. They have one good defensive lineman (Nick Bosa), one good linebacker (Fred Warner) and one good defensive back (Deommodore Lenoir).

In 2023, the 49ers defense gave up third-down conversions 42.5 percent of the time -- sixth-worst in the NFL. Hard to fathom on a defense that has Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and Charvarius Ward.

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers had no intention of chasing goodness on defense in 2023. Aside from a sixth Super Bowl championship, the 49ers defensively aspire to be great.