San Francisco 49ers: Breaking Down Strongest, Weakest Positions in 2016
By Jerod Brown
Cornerback
The San Francisco 49ers are loaded at cornerback. At least in terms of sheer number of players that can suit up. But none of them offers anything beyond hopeful potential.
Will Redmond–the 49ers’ third selection in the 2016 NFL Draft–is recovering from a torn ACL and, although he participated briefly over the weekend, he is no sure thing to play immediately.
Rashard Robinson is promising but it’s been awhile since he competed on a football field. He’s got the athletic ability but his long and lean frame doesn’t exactly scream confidence. Let’s see him play first.
Tramaine Brock seems to always be dealing with some nagging injury and he hasn’t exactly secured the starting position. Well, he’s been handed it but playing like a true number one cornerback is a different story.
Kenneth Acker, Keith Reaser and Dontae Johnson were all put on notice when the 49ers took cornerbacks with consecutive picks in the draft. Either get better in a hurry, or prepare to be leap-frogged by some younger players coming in. The 49ers don’t seem content with the “Let’s wait and see” strategy anymore. Give them credit for that.
When the 49ers had a dominant defense, they weren’t exactly trotting out world-beaters at cornerback. They had a dominant front-seven and the cornerbacks were protected by an unrelenting pass-rush tandem of former defensive tackle Justin Smith and former outside linebacker Aldon Smith.
Perhaps that’s where the 49ers are going in 2016. Hoping that Armstead, Buckner and Lynch can create enough pressure that the defensive backs simply have to compete for a few seconds and the play will be over.
That’s not a team that considers cornerback a strength. That’s a team that has openly shown it’s a weakness. We’ll take the 49ers word for it. Fortunately, it should be one hell of a camp battle to see who rises to the top of the depth chart. I’ll put my money on Robinson and Johnson.
Next: Offensive Strength