Over the weekend, San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker Michael Wilhoite had an interview with SiriusXM NFL radio. We got some audio in which Wilhoite discussed the team's decision to not draft any linebackers, as well as the decision to draft DeForest Buckner.
The more interesting part was a segment we did not hear. Wilhoite compared the current 49ers defense under Jim O'Neil to past units:
Interesting: @MichaelWilhoite says new @49ers defense more similar to what SF ran in '14 than under Eric Mangini in '15 @SiriusXMNFL
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) May 21, 2016
Whether that means more man coverage and less zone, or more blitzing or less blitzing remains to be seen. The 49ers are a month and a half into their offseason workout program, and one week into OTAs. They will pick up OTAs again on Tuesday, and the implementation of the defense will continue.
One issue with assessing Jim O'Neil as a defensive coordinator is separating out what he did vs. what Mike Pettine did with the Cleveland Browns. There are some rumblings 2014 successes belonged to Pettine, while 2015 ugliness belonged to O'Neil. We get a few more months to figure out how that carries over to the 49ers. This unit has faced plenty of turnover the last two years, but they have infused it with some solid new talent. We need to see actual execution from these players, but it is an intriguing group.