Seven up: 49ers’ defense adds numbers up front

By Chris Cluff  |   Wednesday, June 06, 2007  |  Comments( 40 )

San Francisco 49ers
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Hoping to fix a defense that ranked 26th in the NFL last season, the San Francisco 49ers have added 11 key defenders through free agency and the draft. The most recent is Sam Rayburn, a defensive lineman who was cut by the Philadelphia Eagles last month and signed by the 49ers on Tuesday.

The arrival of Rayburn, a four-year veteran who was pursued by five other teams, gives the 49ers even more options up front. Rayburn is the fourth new lineman and seventh new member of the front seven this offseason. Mostly a part-time player in Philadelphia, the 6-foot-3, 303-pound Rayburn has shown the ability to get to the quarterback from inside (he had six sacks in 2004). With the 49ers, he is expected to compete with Melvin Oliver to back up the ageless Bryant Young at left end.

Young, who signed a one-year deal in February to play a 14th season with the Niners, figures to remain on the left side, where he started every game and recorded 5½ sacks last season at the age of 34.

Rayburn also might get in some time at a loaded nose tackle spot that includes five players. The starter is expected to be Aubrayo Franklin, a former Baltimore Raven whom the 49ers signed to a three-year deal on the first day of free agency. Franklin, 6-1 and 334 pounds, was a backup for his first four NFL seasons in Baltimore. Behind him, in some order, will be: Isaac Sopoaga (6-2, 321), a fourth-year player who started the final two games in 2006; Ronald Fields (6-2, 323), who started 10 games in 2006, but only two at nose in the 3-4; and Joe Cohen (6-2, 313), a fourth-round pick from Florida.

After opening just five games in 2006 in the 3-4 alignment coach Mike Nolan prefers, the 49ers are hoping Franklin and the other big boys can nail down the middle. With Rayburn and Fields also potentially playing end, the 49ers will have a lot of options as they go through training camp.

In the base 3-4 alignment, Marques Douglas is expected to line up at right end, with rookie Ray McDonald and Fields likely backing him up. In 2006, Douglas started four games at right end (three of them in the 3-4 scheme). He started most of the season at right defensive tackle and managed to record 75 tackles and three sacks even though he was just 280 pounds and was not playing the spot the 49ers signed him to play. His natural position is end in the 3-4, which is where he excelled under Nolan in Baltimore. Now, if everything goes as planned with the new players, he will get to play the 3-4 end for an entire season.

Douglas will be pushed by McDonald (6-3 and 281), a third-round pick who played nose tackle at Florida but will be moved to end in San Francisco.

With the 49ers supposedly bigger and better up front, the linebacking crew should be free to make more plays. Adding one more to the field will certainly help their chances.

The linebackers' unit is led by Manny Lawson, the 2006 first-round pick who had just 2½ sacks as a rookie, and Brandon Moore, the five-year veteran who led the team in tackles even though he started just 11 games. He reportedly has bulked up to handle the position even better this season. The Niners signed Tully Banta-Cain to pump up the pass rush from the weak side, and they also drafted Jay Moore, a defensive end at Nebraska who will be used to help pressure the quarterback as well.

The biggest question at linebacker is whether first-round pick Patrick Willis will supplant veteran Derek Smith. Willis, the 11th choice in the draft, is already slated to be the nickel 'backer and will be given every chance to unseat Smith at the weak inside position.

Also in the mix are Jeff Ulbrich, who started eight games last season; Hannibal Navies, who started three; and youngsters Colby Bockwoldt, Roderick Green and Parys Haralson.

With 11 new defenders, the 49ers certainly have the numbers to fix their defensive woes of 2006. It simply remains to be seen how all of the new pieces fit in Nolan's 3-4 scheme.

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About Chris Cluff

Chris Cluff spent 10 years as an editor and sportswriter for The Seattle Times. He was a key figure in the newspaper's coverage of the Seahawks, particularly during their Super Bowl run in 2005. He also has written two books on the Seahawks: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding,...
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