Despite dealing with several injuries to key players up and down their roster, the San Francisco 49ers have started their 2025 campaign with a 2-0 record after beating the Seattle Seahawks 17-13 in Week 1 and New Orleans Saints 26-21 in Week 2.
While a lot of the attention has been on San Francisco’s offense, they’re defense has done their job through two weeks, specifically against the run. They held Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III to 67 yards on 3.01 yards per attempt in the opener while Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller rushed for 107 on 4.12 yards per attempt.
Interestingly, the 49ers run defense has much better with rookie defensive end Mykel Williams in the game than without him.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice, San Francisco has allowed a 25.8% rushing success rate in 31 designed run snaps with Williams on the field. In the 21 designed run snaps without Williams on the field, New Orleans and Seattle had a 66.7% rushing success rate.
Williams, 21, was San Francisco’s first-round pick (No. 11 overall) this year after a three-year career at Georgia, where he earned All-SEC honors twice and won a national championship.
While 49ers fans were hoping that Williams’ pass rushing prowess would pop right away, he’s yet to record a quarterback hit in his first two games. However, his ability to stop the run is a great sign for his future in the league.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Analytics credit 1 49ers player for massive improvement in run defense
Reporting by Mike Masala, Niners Wire / Niners Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
