The 49ers' primary coverage is Cover 3, but they’ve also expanded their repertoire a bit, adding in more man coverage under Wilks. Wilks has shown the willingness to shift more toward man or zone depending on the current matchup, so against the Giants, I would expect to see primarily zone coverage of Cover 1 with a linebacker underneath as the hole defender or in a spy on Daniel Jones. Wilks is alsj bringing forth one of the most aggressive 49ers defenses we’ve seen in recent years, which, paired with an already great pass rush, could spell disaster early on for the Giants.
So far, Fred Warner has been used as a pass-rusher on
8.7 percent of passing down snaps, Dre Greenlaw on 6.3 percent, and Isaiah Oliver on 5 percent. None of those numbers are outrageous, but being willing to use off-ball players as pass-rushers against the Giants is a strong strategy to contain Daniel Jones.
The 49ers, under Wilks, also take a rather old-school approach with their defensive linemen. Where most modern defenses tend to work with "creepers," which drops a traditional defensive lineman into coverage, the 49ers don’t.
Wilks also shies away from putting his off-ball players on the line of scrimmage, which many modern defenses also do to simulate pressure coming in. It’s a rather arrogant approach of, “Our guys are better than yours; we don’t need to simulate anything.” With this personnel, it works.
