Loaded fronts are becoming more prevalent in the pass-rushing palettes of every NFL team. Here’s how the 49ers use them for Nick Bosa’s benefit.
San Francisco 49ers edge-rusher Nick Bosa is obviously one of the best players at his position in the NFL. Last season, he totaled 19 sacks, 31 quarterback hits, and 48 quarterback hurries. Only Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys had more total pressures (106) than Bosa’s 98, and there are more than enough examples of Bosa destroying opposing blockers in single- and double-teams.
However, 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans and defensive line coach Kris Kocurek did some things last season to help a guy who doesn’t generally need help. San Francisco’s defense was one of the NFL’s best at defeating opposing offensive lines with the use of loaded fronts, and stunts off those overloads in which Bosa was set free to create even more havoc.
In this week’s “Xs and Os,” in which we continue our look at the schematic trends that have taken over the NFL in recent seasons, Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup gets into the details of this idea.
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“One thing we see a lot in the NFL, which relates to a five-man front look, is loaded fronts, where you have three defensive linemen to one side of the center,” Greg said. “You almost always see a stunt concept from that front look. What the 49ers often did is that they would line up in a loaded front, and they’d have Fred Warner lined up on the opposite side as standup 3-technique. And what they would do is, they would take Nick Bosa, a pretty good pass-rusher in his own right one-on-one, on a long stunt. He would loop around the two other defensive linemen who were on the same side of the center, so he’d wind up rushing through the A-gap in a long loop.
“And the reason they had Fred Warner on the line of scrimmage is so he could occupy the guard opposite the loaded front. Because he’s the only player on the opposite side of the offensive line who could help with a long stunt from a loaded front.
“Defenses are becoming more creative in how they want to rush the passer in their use of stunts, and that loaded front has become prevalent in the league — pretty much every team in the league lines up in loaded fronts now. They’re very difficult, because very often, what teams do is they’ll put the middle guy in that loaded front — he’s their best pass-rusher. Not always, but let’s say that’s Aaron Donald. Now, there’s a lot of room between Aaron Donald and the guard who has to block him. A guard’s friend is not space, and now, there’s a lot of space between Donald and that guard, and if Donald just rushes right at that guard from a distance, that’s a really difficult thing to [handle].
“I had this discussion with an [NFL] offensive line coach, and he told me that loaded fronts are really difficult.”
Two of Bosa’s sacks in the 2022 season came off this same concept.
There was this one in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Rams…
…and this one in Week 11 against the Miami Dolphins.
In both instances, you can see that the 49ers have loaded the front to Bosa’s side with an extra rusher, and that Warner is playing 3-tech to the other side. We detailed the play against the Dolphins to get into the complications this created for a Miami offense that was in empty after motioning running back Raheem Mostert out wide, and with tight end Mike Gesicki running a flat route after chipping off the snap.
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“The thing is, when you line up in that five-man front look, whether it’s five defensive linemen, or five true pass-rushers, like the Philadelphia Eagles often do, or whether it’s what the 49ers do with Fred Warner… and by the way, sometimes, Fred Warner would take two steps forward and then back out and drop into coverage. But he’s still occupying the guard. The kay is to make it a five-on-five, one-on-one situation for the offensive line, so no offensive lineman can help with somebody else.
“Those two plays where Bosa took the long stunt, or the ‘long stick,’ as they call it, came from outside in a wide-9 alignment into the A-gap, looping behind two other defensive linemen. Nobody in the backfield is going to be helping on that, even if it’s not empty. That’s what you’re trying to get accomplished — you’re trying to make sure that nobody on the offensive line can react to that long stunt through the A-gap.
Ryans is now the Texans’ head coach, but you can bet that new 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, along with Kocurek (one of the best defensive line coaches in the NFL) will be charged with making sure that those five-on-fives, and the one-on-ones, keep happening.
Anything to make Nick Bosa even more terrifying than he already is!
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