Why Hargrave is poised for ‘big jump’ in second 49ers season

Why Hargrave is poised for ‘big jump’ in second 49ers season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SANTA CLARA — Javon Hargrave is determined to improve his performance in 2024, and it’s a safe bet the two-time Pro Bowler will make good on his pledge and take a substantial leap in his second season with the 49ers.

Hargrave recently detailed the difficulty acclimating to San Francisco’s aggressive defensive-line scheme, with the challenge amplified due to the limited number of NFL teams adopting a similar philosophy with their own fronts.

Defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, revered for the “Wide 9” front that the 49ers have deployed since his arrival in 2019, detailed the adjustment period veterans face playing for him, explaining the early hurdles typically come from being fully immersed in a scheme that has an all-out attack mentality.

“Generally, the way we attack and play,” Kocurek said Tuesday. “There’s only a couple teams in the NFL that really truly do it the way we do it. All defensive linemen, you say ‘Hey we play an attack scheme.’ They get bright eyed, ‘Yeah, that sounds great! Yeah, I want to attack, I’ve been reading these blocks.’ Once you truly get here and get into it, it’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize you wanted me to attack this much.’

Kocurek broke down how some of the greatest challenges come at a fundamental level, citing the difficulty of altering technique and muscle memory for players who don’t have previous experience playing in a similar scheme.

“Just getting used to the techniques, the stance is a little bit different, the aiming points are a little bit different,” Kocurek said. “We play a little bit on different angles with our width when we get down on our alignments.

“All that stuff, trying to stack it and really becoming muscle memory for the guys over time. So there is an adjustment period that, unless you’ve played in this scheme before, you have to go through to work through and make mistakes doing it, learn from the mistakes and…

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Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-08-05 21:14:32

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