Kwon Alexander Headlines 3 Defenders Primed to Step up for 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers defense was one of the NFL’s best in 2019, but there was still room for improvement. With a bounty of young talent all over the defensive side of the roster, there’s a perfect storm for players to step up and contribute in a major way in 2020.

Allowing 281.8 total yards per game in 2019 but also allowing 20.3 points per game, the Niners defense was steadily explosive, and generally followed the classic adage, “bend don’t break.”

To achieve the ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl, though, San Francisco will need players to elevate their role in the team. Maintaining their place as a top defense is crucial, but carrying that from one season to the next is a difficult task.

However, the 49ers do have players across the defense that could elevate themselves in a 2020 season with high expectations.

LB Kwon Alexander

Kwon Alexander is the oldest and most established player on the trio, but the 2017 Pro Bowler has had a tough pair of seasons since he received that recognition.

Alexander’s injury issues has been the primary reason that he will be expected to step up. The former LSU Tiger seemed like a star in the making after his 2016 and 2017 campaigns, but the linebacker hasn’t played a full 16-game season since 2016 and has only played 17 games in the past two seasons due to ACL and pectoral tears.

For Alexander, a player whose pay counts as $14,516,820 in dead cap in 2020, a “breakout” isn’t just playing a whole season, but putting together the type of performances we were seeing in his time as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.

The 49ers allowed just 112.6 rushing yards per game in the 2019 regular season, and in the seven games in which Alexander recorded any stats, San Francisco gave up 95.7 yards on the ground.

A difference of 22 yards per game is a major difference, and Alexander’s return in the playoffs was a key reason why the 49ers only gave up 64 rushing yards per postseason game.

Alexander’s health leaves a cloud of uncertainty around his second season as a Niner, as has recent rumours that the 49ers are looking for a trade.

But in a limited first year in Santa Clara, California, Alexander showed the potential to live up to his price tag and it wouldn’t make sense to trade a guy with such a high dead cap hit. A healthy offseason should set the linebacker up for a big year in 2020.

CB Emmanuel Moseley

Emmanuel Moseley’s journey from the practice squad to a starting position has been impressive to see, but the Tennessee product may not have played his best football yet.

It hasn’t always been an easy process for Moseley. In his first year in the league, Moseley was:

• Undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft
• Cut and put on the practice squad in September 2018
• Promoted to active roster and made first regular-season appearance… But injured his shoulder and was placed on IR for the rest of 2018

After recovering from his injury, Moseley not only maintained his spot on the roster going into the 2019 season, but also took over the starting job from CB Ahkello Witherspoon to become a key cog in the Niners machine.

Moseley’s play in 11 starts as San Francisco’s No. 2 corner, with some impressive highs like when he picked off Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers in the NFC Championship…

But an exceptional low in the form of blown coverage in the 31-20 Super Bowl LIV loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Still, the speed at which Moseley his improved and adapted to the league is impressive, and the 49ers may end up getting one of the best values in the NFL based on his 1-year, $585,000 contract.

With general manager John Lynch saying Witherspoon needs to prove himself and CB Jason Verrett continuing to struggle with injury, locking down the No. 2 spot and becoming an end-to-end starter seems likely for Moseley.

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LB Fred Warner

For most Niners fans, LB Fred Warner has already broken out. After all, the 2018 NFL Draft third-rounder has been a knockout addition for head coach Kyle Shanahan’s team, starting every single game since being drafted out of BYU.

Warner’s rookie season was relatively impressive for the situation he was coming into. The 49ers were still putting together the pieces of the roster, and Warner ended up being an important one as he hit 124 total tackles in his first year.

2019 was something different. Warner improved in almost every statistical category, notching 89 solo tackles, earning 9 passes defended and adding three forced fumbles as he solidified himself as a nucleus of the San Francisco defense.

The areas that Warner deserves credit are contrasting, but extremely valuable together: tackling and coverage. He rarely missed tackles, and rarely let opposing QBs have anything easy towards the center of the field as seen in his passes defended and his two interceptions, the latter coming against Mahomes.

However, at just 23-years-old and six months away from a 24th birthday in November, Warner has the time and ability to grow into a perennial Pro Bowler, and there’s a serious chance that run starts in 2020.

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Evan Reier is a sportswriter covering the San Francisco 49ers for Heavy.com and local sports for the Montana Standard in Butte, MT. Reach out to him on Twitter at @evanreier and join our 49ers community at Heavy on 49ers on Facebook.

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