Raheem Morris primer: What to expect from the 49ers defense and how each position is impacted

When the San Francisco 49ers interviewed only three candidates for the defensive coordinator job, it felt like the two minority candidates were nothing more than a formality before hiring Gus Bradley. We will see if Bradley heads elsewhere after the 49ers hired Raheem Morris to replace Robert Saleh as their defensive coordinator.

There was speculation that Jim Schwartz would be a candidate. Recent reports have made Eagles’ defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s return uncertain. Ultimately, Shanahan gets to work with Morris for the fourth time in the NFL.

Morris’s Rams’ defense aligns with the 49ers’ defensive philosophy heading into last offseason: stop the run. From 2021 through 2023, while Morris was the Rams’ defensive coordinator, they ranked seventh in rushing EPA and fifth in rushing success rate.

At his core, Morris runs an odd front. So you’re going to hear a lot about how Nick Bosa will have to stand up, maybe five plays a season. You can run 5-man fronts with your base defensive end having his hand in the ground—more on that shortly. It’s worth noting that Morris has shown flexibility. Back in 2020, his defense ran only an odd or bear front — a 3-4 look —17 percent of the time.

Raheem Morris and odd fronts

Here is an example of a couple of odd fronts Morris and Jeff Ulbrich ran last year with Atlanta:

That is a classic “bear front,” where you have a pair of 3-techniques and a nose tackle head up over the center. From a personnel perspective, it is easy to see how the 49ers could get their three rookies from the 2025 draft on the field at the same time. CJ West would be the nose tackle, while Alfred Collins and Mykel Williams would be the 3-techniques. Then Nick Bosa and whichever edge rusher the down-and-distance calls for on the opposite side. Morris isn’t going to be the coach to tell Bosa he has to stand up in this scenario.

When you do run these five-man fronts, and let’s say Bosa is lined up to the side where there are multiple tight ends or eligible receivers, like the screenshot below, that’s when Bosa would more than likely need to peel off into the flat or drop as a hook defender, which is what ended up happening with the Falcons:

One way to ensure Bosa rushes the passer is by walking down a linebacker to the edge. In today’s NFL, this is known as a “Penny” front, and it’s something Morris has been doing for years. In Atlanta, he used Kaden Elliss as their adjuster in base packages. Morris did the same with Ernest Jones when he was in Los Angeles. These players can moonlight as edge rushers.

The adjuster for the 49ers was Dee Winters in 2025, who lined up on the edge 78 times last season. Here’s an example of Winters walking down to the edge in Week 1 on the left side of the screen. Next to him is Mykel Williams, with Jordan Elliott at nose, Kalia Davis as the other defensive tackle, and Bosa on the opposite edge.

This front all but ensures Winters, Mykel, and Bosa all get 1-on-1 opportunities. Hiring Morris could end up being one of the most beneficial things to happen for the 49ers’ first-round pick from 2025. The majority of Williams’ rushes should come from the interior under Morris with a runway. You can’t ask for a better setup.

I was wondering who would be the 3-technique and how much the 49ers would need to invest in a defensive tackle this offseason, but that player is already on the roster. It’s just a matter of how quickly Williams will develop in Year 2.

Winters is under contract for one more season. We don’t know what to expect from Nick Martin because we didn’t see much of him as a rookie. However, Martin’s calling card coming out of college was that he was at his best rushing the passer. Walking Martin down in these fronts, given his history, likely made Morris an easy sell.

The 49ers’ signing Elliss as a linebacker would be the least surprising move, given his fit in this defense and how it would allow Warner to patrol the middle, if Morris isn’t a fan of Winters or Martin.

Here’s another look at Winters walking down as the adjuster the following week in New Orleans when the 49ers were in their base defense:

Winters is on the left side of the screen, lined up next to Mykel. The 49ers are in their “big nickel” personnel, with Ji’Ayir Brown in instead of Upton Stout. Not that he can’t do it, but these strong reductions protect Stout from being in the run fit down after down. Instead, as you can see, the nickel is protected, and now it’s a linebacker inserted into the action.

Bosa’s return to health should unlock Bryce Huff. Williams cemented himself as an interior pass rusher, and those two outside of him will lead to favorable matchups. If the defense can get anything out of Collins and West as pass rushers, the product on the field in 2025 will seem like a distant memory.

Players like Sam Okuayinonu, a restricted free agent, and Keion White should have a greater impact with reduced roles as sub-package players. To reach its ceiling, the team will need the top two picks from the ’25 draft to contribute.

Having a dominant linebacker like Fred Warner gives Morris the versatility he hasn’t had. The beauty of these 5-1 penny fronts is that you really only need one linebacker. When that player is Warner, you can be uber-aggressive elsewhere.

Will we see more blitzing under Raheem Morris?

After six weeks of the 2025 season, the Falcons’ defense ranked No. 1 in total DVOA, including first against the run and the pass. They were No. 5 in EPA per play. They were blitzing at a rate that would make Kyle Shanahan triple-check the numbers. Atlanta’s blitz rate was 42.4 percent, second only to Brian Flores.

It was a sign that Morris was comfortable evolving his scheme. After all, we’re talking about a guy who comes from a Vic Fangio-adjacent tree, and they are not known for their blitzing. The Falcons weren’t getting after the quarterback, so they decided to turn up the heat and manufacture pressure by blitzing.

By season’s end, Atlanta finished with the seventh-highest blitz rate on passing downs and the second-highest stunt rate on running downs. Stunting on running downs is an easy way to change the math in the box for defenses without sacrificing coverage on the back end. There are different ways, from line movements all in one direction to last-minute reductions, but Morris keeping his players on the move is a great sign.

The Falcons loved to blitz their nickel. Only two cornerbacks in the league blitzed more than Stout did last year. Stout’s win percentage as a pass rusher was 20.5 percent. It’s a skill set that is just scratching the surface. No player won more at his position with at least 15 pass rushes last year than Stout. He bested second place by three percentage points. It’s another building block for Morris to use in passing situations.

The Falcons ran Cover 3 at the fifth-highest rate last season and Cover 6 at the third-highest rate. That’s where the 49ers will likely live this year, with quarters being sprinkled into the mix. Despite the heavy blitz usage, Atlanta ran man coverage (Cover 1) at the third-lowest rate last season.

Which brings us to the secondary…

Changes to come in the secondary?

Jessie Bates found out about Morris’s versatility at safety this past season after being named a second-team All-Pro. Bates, who had primarily been a free safety, had lined up closer to the line of scrimmage and in the box more than any other season in his career through the midway point of 2025.

Last year, in every regular-season game, 49ers’ cornerbacks Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green lined up on the same side. Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell often shadowed a receiver. If there was an obvious No. 1 on the other side, Terrell was following him. That will be a change from Saleh to Morris, especially if the 49ers feel like they have a cornerback who is quality enough to travel with the opposition’s best.

Saleh didn’t do that until it was time to throw the kitchen sink at his opponents and give them looks they weren’t prepared for. To me, that suggests he didn’t believe he had the coverage players to travel.

You wonder how much the Rams’ secondary play influenced Morris’s decisions in Atlanta. Xavier Watts was the last pick in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but he came into the league known as a ballhawk, and did nothing to change those preconceived notions after having five interceptions and six pass breakups as a rookie. Bates had three interceptions in 2026, but had 10 in the previous two seasons combined.

Morris has zero ties to any of the players on the 49ers defense. We know he’s not going to pivot off Bosa, Warner, Williams, and Stout, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a change at any other position.

The coverage silos the Falcons ran last year align with the strengths of Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green. Neither will be exposed in man coverage against the high-level wideouts. That doesn’t mean there will be a full game when they aren’t in 1-on-1 scenarios, but Saleh to Morris should make for a simple transition on the perimeter.

This is not breaking news, but the 49ers don’t have a Bates-level safety on their roster. Malik Mustapha and Ji’Ayir Brown specialize in coming downhill and making plays near the line of scrimmage. Brown is under contract for one more season. Marques Sigle did not show he could play the ball in the air as a rookie. All of these signs point to the 49ers finding a free safety this offseason.

There are plenty of options in the draft. Judging by everything Morris asks of his safeties and where the current depth chart stands, don’t be surprised to see the Niners use their highest pick on a safety under the John Lynch-Shanahan regime. That’s the one glaring hole on this side of the ball in Morris’s scheme, especially if there will be a spike in blitz rate.