The San Francisco 49ers would like nothing more than to kick off their 2025 regular season off with a much-needed NFC West victory on the road against the Seattle Seahawks.
To do that, the Niners have to prevent Hawks running back Kenneth Walker III from beating them.
It's a strategy that isn't too tough to understand. But it's also one that potentially raises concerns for San Francisco, too, in what might be an early pivotal contest to set the tone within the division.
Seattle's offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak, is no stranger to the 49ers, and his outside-zone rushing system is engineered to both take advantage of Walker's strengths while covering up some notable weaknesses the Seahawks offensive line possesses, namely pass protection on the interior. Plus, with a fully revamped offense that now features quarterback Sam Darnold and wide receiver Cooper Kupp, it might be more beneficial for Kubiak to rely more on a ground-and-pound approach rather than an untested passing attack behind a suspect O-line.
That's where the danger lies for the Niners.
San Francisco's run defense was horrid a season ago, and despite averaging only 3.2 yards per rush attempt in five games against his NFC West adversaries, Walker nevertheless figures to take advantage of what the 49ers did to revamp that mediocre portion of the defense during the offseason.
Stopping Seahawks' Kenneth Walker is 49ers' biggest priority in Week 1
The Niners may feature as many as three rookie starters on defense -- linemen Mykel Williams and C.J. West, and cornerback Upton Stout -- while Round 2 draftee Alfred Collins may see a sizable chunk of snaps, too.
On the positive side, both Williams and Collins boasted a knack for being solid run-stuffers at the collegiate level, but the nature of a more complex rushing attack is inevitably going to force some rookie mistakes.
Plus, with both rookie linemen having missed time during training camp because of minor injuries, it's fair to wonder if either may be slightly behind in their respective development.
Walker and Kubiak may look to exploit that, too.
That said, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh already hinted at some of the lessons learned from facing a run-first offense, going so far as to point out how Cover 2 shells didn't work against San Francisco a year ago in Week 1 when his former squad, the New York Jets, were defeated by "death by a million paper cuts" because of the 49ers run game.
From that perspective, Saleh's strategy might simply be to stuff the box more and force Darnold to use Kupp and others to beat them through the air, which is questionable enough a strategy, given the aforementioned pass-blocking questions Seattle's O-line has.
So, putting it back to simpler terms, if Saleh and the Niners can keep Walker in check, Week 1 will result in a victory for San Francisco.