Return of Aldon Smith Should Spark 49ers' Already Lethal Defense
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith has officially been reinstated from his nine-game suspension following off-field incidents that prompted the decision.
News of the reinstatement was made by the NFL (h/t Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area) on Tuesday morning, and the fourth-year pro will be eligible to return to action with the 49ers take on the New York Giants in Week 11.
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The 49ers are not required to make a roster move immediately, per Maiocco. The NFL has granted them a one-week window in which to determine whether or not they want to make room for him on the 53-man roster. But Maiocco speculates that Smith will be on the roster for San Francisco's Week 11 contest.
A subsequent roster move could feasibly involve fellow linebacker Patrick Willis, who is expected to land on injured reserve, per NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, after suffering a season-ending toe injury.
Roster moves aside, Smith will unquestionably benefit a 49ers pass rush that has struggled for much of 2014. Through nine games, San Francisco has netted just 15 sacks in comparison to the 31 given up on offense.
Smith worked at the Boys and Girls Club and at a children's hospital during his suspension, per Mindi Bach of CSN Bay Area—part of the mandated community service Smith needed to partake in during his time away from the football field.
Back on the field, there is no question that the 49ers defense will be that much better with No. 99 suited up.
Breaking Down the Numbers
As stated previously, San Francisco's pass rush was hindered by Smith's absence.
The initial plan was to slate in second-year pro Corey Lemonier. But Lemonier struggled in this role—posting zero sacks and just six tackles in a split-time job with fellow linebacker Dan Skuta.
Lemonier was subsequently replaced by rookie linebacker Aaron Lynch on pass-rushing downs—a swap that worked in the 49ers' favor. The fifth-round draft pick has notched two sacks, six tackles and four passes defended.
| LB Ahmad Brooks | 4.0 | 16 | 4 |
| DE Justin Smith | 3.0 | 17 | 9 |
| LB Dan Skuta | 2.0 | 17 | 4 |
| LB Aaron Lynch | 2.0 | 6 | 5 |
| S Antoine Bethea | 1.0 | 41 | 9 |
| LB Chris Borland | 1.0 | 38 | 12 |
| DT Ian Williams | 1.0 | 18 | 4 |
| DT Quinton Dial | 1.0 | 4 | 1 |
Adding Smith back into this equation helps give the defense a flurry of talented pass-rushers.
There is little doubt behind this potential. Smith has 42 career sacks in three seasons with the 49ers. In 2013, he only registered 8.5 sacks, but this was also due to him missing five games while undergoing rehabilitation therapy for off-field issues.
| 2011 | 16 | 14.0 | 31 | 6 |
| 2012 | 16 | 19.5 | 50 | 16 |
| 2013 | 11 | 8.5 | 29 | 5 |
| Total | 43 | 42.0 | 110 | 27 |
One can only hope Smith will return from the added time away with a fresh mindset and approach to being a potent force on the field.
According to Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News, Smith couldn't be happier to return to the fray.
Predicting the Impact
We can easily boast that Smith will make a huge impact once he returns to the field. We can also speculate what the pass rush will look like with the combination of Smith and Lynch to rush opposing quarterbacks.
But let's take a brief look back at some of the pressure brought by the current crop of San Francisco's defenders prior to Smith's eventual return.
Lynch will be our first evaluative subject. This takes us back to Week 9—a game in which the offensively challenged 49ers lost 13-10 at home to the St. Louis Rams.
The play came at the 3:33 mark of the second quarter. St. Louis was facing a 3rd-and-14 on its own 16-yard line. Lynch (circled in yellow) is at the top of the screen and will force inside pressure toward Rams quarterback Austin Davis, who gets flushed out to his left.
Note one of the 49ers' interior linemen breaks off the inside pass rush, which leaves Lynch (arrow) against a single blocker. This move will create some outside pressure on Davis' front side.
Davis is unable to find anyone open down the field. The right side of the pocket begins to collapse, forcing Davis to scramble out to his left. Note the double coverage at the bottom of the pocket.
Lynch uses his speed to close the gap, bringing Davis down for a three-yard loss on the play.
St. Louis' pass-blockers were able to protect Davis' blind side adequately enough. The stunt on the opposite end of the line freed up Lynch, allowing him to execute enough pressure to evade the block and converge on Davis for the sack. Plenty of credit has to go to Lynch for executing well on this particular play.
But let us rewind to 2013 and take a look at one of Smith's signature sacks.
This particular play took place against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 15—a game in which Smith registered two sacks and four tackles. It happened at the 7:50 mark of the third quarter on a 1st-and-10 play from the Buccaneers' 20-yard line.
Smith is lined up opposite Tampa Bay's left tackle. He'll use inside technique to exploit the gap between the tackle and left guard.
The Buccaneers are using a combination of pass-blockers on the right side of their line, leaving two one-on-one matchups to their left. Smith is able to exploit this.
Smith reaches quarterback Mike Glennon for a seven-yard loss. Note that the left side of San Francisco's pass rush is still being blocked efficiently enough, but it was at the expense of giving up a rush from the 49ers' right.
Combine the theory of these two plays for a moment. It's not a foreign concept for opposing teams to put two blockers on defensive end Justin Smith. We've seen that before and will likely see that again. But with a tandem of Aldon Smith and Lynch rushing the passer, what exactly will be the offensive line's answer?
It's a question the 49ers defense is happy to ask of its opponents.
Shuffling the Linebacker Corps
Willis' season-ending injury certainly affects the outlook of San Francisco's defensive prospects moving forward. Thankfully, the 49ers have gotten solid play out of their rookie inside linebacker, Chris Borland. He'll likely continue filling in for Willis until the return of NaVorro Bowman.
At that point, we may see a combination of Borland and Michael Wilhoite plugging Willis' spot.
But these are inside linebackers, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's defense tends to favor exterior pressure from the 49ers' crop of outside linebackers.
With Smith's return—and eventually that of Skuta (ankle)—Fangio will be forced to shuffle this new-look group to the best extent possible.
Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee provides one theory on how the combination of Smith and Lynch will be used:
"One scenario is that Smith will play on passing downs—perhaps opposite rookie Aaron Lynch—in his first game back. He played only 12 snaps last year in his first game back from a six-week stint in an alcohol rehabilitation center."
Barrows' assessment makes sense in that the 49ers might be in an evaluative position with Smith—determining just how game-ready the veteran linebacker is after missing such a lengthy period.
But what happens thereafter?
It is plausible that Fangio calls for more use out of Lynch and Smith and less from seven-year pro Ahmad Brooks.
The 30-year-old linebacker has struggled for much of the season. Aside from his game-saving sack of Saints quarterback Drew Brees in the 49ers' 27-24 overtime victory in Week 10, Brooks' 2014 campaign has been a shadow of the Pro Bowl season he put up a year ago.
Through nine games, Brooks has registered four sacks, one forced fumble and just 16 tackles.
Smith's return and eventual infusion into the 49ers' group of outside linebackers prompted rumors that San Francisco would attempt to trade Brooks at the deadline—a notion that was later deemed "out of line" by Fangio when he appeared on KNBR 680 (h/t Eric Branch of SFGate.com).
Still, it is possible the 49ers use a larger combination of Lynch and Smith on pass-rushing downs, electing to go with Brooks and Skuta in base formations.
We'll let Fangio get the final say in that decision.
At any rate, San Francisco's pass rush will be bolstered to an unimaginable point with Smith's return. Lynch has provided a nice first-half spark to this element. Smith will be the factor who pushes this group over the top.
Watch out, NFL quarterbacks. The San Francisco pass rush is coming, and it is coming on strong.
All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.
Peter Panacy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers. Be sure to check out his entire archive on 49ers news, insight and analysis.
Follow him @PeterPanacy on Twitter.
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