49ers Cornerback Situation Is One of Intrigue in 2016

The San Francisco 49ers have a lot of cornerbacks on their offseason roster, but there are few absolutes for how the depth chart will pan out during the regular season. Niner Noise breaks down the situation and what may happen at the start of the 2016 season.

The San Francisco 49ers spent a lot of effort reinforcing the cornerback position to start off the 2016 offseason.

In addition to an already deep group, general manager Trent Baalke brought in an additional three corners via the 2016 NFL Draft: Will Redmond, Rashard Robinson and Prince Charles Iworah.

Baalke has a reputation for drafting defensive backs. It’s an approach echoed by his efforts during the 2014 draft — a year in which the Niners added defensive back Jimmie Ward in Round 1, as well as cornerbacks Dontae Johnson, Keith Reaser and Kenneth Acker.

San Francisco currently has 10 corners on its 90-man offseason roster. Not all of these guys will make the regular-season squad, so what are the likely projections for this group with 2016 on the horizon?

An influx of young talent means, essentially, no one’s incumbent job is truly safe. And that’s the nature of pro-level competition.

The above-named players will be joined by veteran corners Tramaine Brock, Marcus Cromartie and Chris Davis.

From that bunch, Brock is still poised to be the team’s No. 1 corner entering the season. Last year, Brock led the team with 11 passes defended and was also tied with Acker for most interceptions (three) on the year.

Nov 1, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; San Francisco 49ers cornerback Tramaine Brock (26) warms up prior to the game against the St. Louis Rams at Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

Pro Football Focus (subscription required) also gave Brock a plus-3.1 overall grade for his efforts.

But, as Niner Noise’s Jerod Brown pointed out, some shifting within the secondary could mean Brock is out of a starting job this season. He wrote:

"Brock will almost surely make the roster in 2016. He has been solid throughout his time with the team. The issue is that the team paid him at a time when they expected him to become a surefire play-making cornerback and he hasn’t met those expectations.That isn’t necessarily a fault of his own. The 49ers, at the time they extended Brock, had an elite front-seven on defense that masked deficiencies in pass defense. Now, with many of those dominant players gone, the 49ers can’t hide the lack of talent in the defensive backfield."

Brown also noted the ascendance of Johnson — a 6’2″, 200-pound corner, who many feel could emerge as a starting-caliber candidate this season. PFF gave him a plus-0.2 overall grade on 380 snaps last year.

Not lost in the discussion is Ward. The third-year corner came on strong during the latter half of 2015, as Jeff Deeney of Pro Football Focus pointed out, and is likely going to be in for a bigger role this season.

PFF's No. 1 CB over the last 3 weeks? None other than Jimmie Ward (+9.0). 3-7, 10 yards allowed in coverage with a pick six and 3 run stops.
— Jeff Deeney (@PFF_Jeff) December 24, 2015

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee reported the 49ers were moving to push Ward to an outside position instead of utilizing the collegiate safety in a slot-only role.

Assuming this pans out, Ward should remain a starter for the regular season. And even with the added competition, Brock’s starting status is his to lose.

So what of the remaining corners?

With Ward in a starting role, the nickel corner position is open and could likely go to Redmond, at least according to Baalke (h/t Ryan Sakamoto of NinerFans.com):

#49ers GM Trent Baalke said Redmond's primary role in 2016 will be nickel (slot). Just like Ward & Culliver before him, when they were rooks
— Ryan Sakamoto (@BEASTwriter) April 30, 2016

Redmond is recovering from a collegiate ACL tear but is projected to be ready for training camp.

This takes away three spots from what will likely be a five- or six-person cornerback depth chart this season.

Sep 19, 2015; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs defensive back Will Redmond (2) prepares for a play during the game against the Northwestern State Demons at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State won 62-13. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /

Acker received the most snaps (823) out of the remaining cast and had 13 starts under his belt in 2015. But he fell out of favor towards the tail end of last season and ended up with a minus-3.6 pass-coverage grade, per PFF, which ranked the lowest out of all 49ers corners a year ago.

Still, it’s hard to envision the Niners giving up on him just yet. So let’s assume his job is safe. And we should assume the same for Robinson as well, even though he’ll have to translate his raw skill set into something worthwhile over his first two projected seasons in San Francisco.

So there are five spots gone, if this prediction comes true.

If the 49ers go with a sixth cornerback, and it’s likely they will in an attempt to offset an uptempo offense on the other side of the ball, the competition would come down to Iworah, Cromartie, Davis, Johnson and Reaser.

Johnson was the only other true corner (Brock the other one), with over 200 snaps, to post a positive pass-coverage grade, per PFF, last season.

Combine this and Johnson’s size, and he appears to be the favored candidate to secure the final spot on the Niners depth chart.

San Francisco 49ers: Cornerback Situation Is One of Intrigue Heading into 2016

By Peter Panacy | Jun 20, 2016

The San Francisco 49ers have a lot of cornerbacks on their offseason roster, but there are few absolutes for how the depth chart will pan out during the regular season. Niner Noise breaks down the situation and what may happen at the start of the 2016 season.

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