Last season, the San Francisco 49ers were the best defensive team in the NFL, and it wasn’t even much of a debate. They were first in both points and total yards allowed, and they regularly made mincemeat of opposing offenses.

With the addition of stud defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, many felt that defense could become even better this year.

So far in 2023, the Niners are off to a solid start defensively. While two games isn’t a good sample space, they do rank third in points allowed and third in rushing yards given up.

Their passing defense is a bit of a concern after they allowed the Los Angeles Rams to regularly pick up yardage and first downs in the first half of Week 2. But they tightened things up after halftime and started applying pressure on Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, which resulted in L.A. scoring just six points and zero touchdowns in the second half.

As a result, the 49ers currently have three players ranking in the top 15 in defensive pressures among defensive tackles: Hargrave, Javon Kinlaw and Arik Armstead, per Coach Yac on X, formally known as Twitter.

Hargrave was signed away from the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in order to do exactly that — provide pressure on opposing QBs from the inside of the defensive line. He had 11.0 sacks and 16 QB hits in 2022 and made the Pro Bowl the year prior.

Kinlaw has been plagued by injuries the last couple of years, but the former first-round draft pick has shown promise when healthy. Armstead, a nine-year veteran, has been a mainstay in the team’s front four dating back to before the start of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s regime.

Of course, the crown jewel of the Niners’ defense is defensive end Nick Bosa, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year who had a league-high 18.5 sacks in 2022. But now, he has at least one teammate in Hargrave who can blitz and sack opposing quarterbacks from a different angle while he applies pressure from the edge.