Two years ago, they gave a four-year, $84 million contract to Javon Hargrave, who was an outstanding player in the Philadelphia Eagles' five-man front that created lots of one-on-one matchups which he dominated.
On the 49ers, Hargrave played in a Wide 9 defensive front which exposed him to constant double-teams in the run game and he couldn't hold his ground against. He simply isn't big enough to anchor against two blockers. Which means he's a good player but a bad scheme fit, and so now the 49ers have to cut him.
This week, I asked John Lynch if certain defensive tackles fit the 49ers' Wide 9 front better than others.
"That's a good question because there's a lot of space there," Lynch said. "I think that's always an evolving deal. When we first started doing it, we were one of the early adopters. Now, there are a lot of teams playing the Wide 9.
"I think the bottom line is guys who can get off and disrupt and make plays. Those are the guys we're looking for. They come in a lot of different packages, so to say we're looking for a huge guy -- no, we're looking for guys who fit what we do. Hopefully, that is a huge guy, but they come in different packages."
To be fair, Arik Armstead never had an explosive get-off but he was an extremely effective defensive tackle for the 49ers when he was healthy because he could anchor against double teams and collapse the pocket on pass plays.
If the 49ers draft another undersized defensive tackle, they would be repeating the Hargrave mistake. So if they're going to draft a defensive tackle with a high pick, he needs to be big and explosive, otherwise he won't fit.
