Breaking Down San Francisco 49ers Cornerback Position in Advance of 2016 Season

Niner Noise evaluates the San Francisco 49ers cornerback position just ahead of training camp as well as the 2016 NFL regular season. There’s a lot of depth here but not exactly an abundance of proven talent. So how does this position shape up as Week 1 approaches?

We have a pretty good idea which two players will start at cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers in 2016.

Barring anything crazy, defensive backs Tramaine Brock and Jimmie Ward will be the team’s Nos. 1 and 2 corners for the upcoming season. It makes sense. Both were graded, by Pro Football Focus (subscription required), as the Niners’ top-two coverage cornerbacks — posting a plus-3.9 pass-coverage grade (Brock) and plus-3.0 pass-coverage grade (Ward) last season.

But what about the rest of this unit?

There are more than a few questions yet to be answered insofar as how San Francisco’s cornerback depth chart shapes up for the upcoming year.

And it’s a situation only made more intriguing after general manager Trent Baalke added three more corners in the 2016 NFL Draft.

On the bright side, the extensive competition to be seen in training camp will push the entire cast of players to perform better than the other guy competing for a roster spot.

To start, let’s take a look at the entire group of Niners cornerbacks on the team’s 90-man pre-training camp roster:

• Kenneth Acker
• Tramaine Brock
• Marcus Cromartie
• Chris Davis
• Prince Charles Iworah
• Dontae Johnson
• Keith Reaser
• Will Redmond
• Rashard Robinson
• Jimmie Ward

Before we get into the depth questions, let’s address Ward and Brock first.

Brock, who led the team with 11 passes defended and was tied for the lead in interceptions (three) last year, likely returns to the No. 1 slot. He could get pushed out of this position if a younger, up-and-coming corner asserts himself to a greater extent, but it’s hard to view Brock not getting the assignment.

Ward is also an intriguing story. After a rough, injury-plagued rookie season in 2014, the former first-round draft pick turned things on in 2015, as noted by Pro Football Focus’ Jeff Deeney:

The thought may have been for Ward to continue his work as the team’s primary nickel cornerback this season. But, in an attempt to get the Niners’ best 11 players on the field as much as possible, defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil (h/t Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee) showcased a desire to move ward to the outside this season.

More of O’Neil’s expectations can be viewed below:

This move opens up the slot-coverage duties for 2016. And it’s a job wide open for competition in training camp and the preseason.

There is some thought third-year corner Dontae Johnson, at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, might be a good fit here. Johnson has played both at the outside as well as in a nickel role before. And his size makes him more ideal to take on big-bodied receiving targets within opposing offenses.

Johnson graded out with a plus-0.2 overall mark on 380 snaps, per PFF, last season.

But one commodity to watch is rookie cornerback Will Redmond. Redmond, who is still recovering from a collegiate ACL injury, is expected to be fully healthy for the start of training camp, according to general manager Trent Baalke (h/t Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News). And it’s likely the Niners will want to push him into a slot-cover role his first year as a pro, both according to Inman and Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller.

Redmond’s health will impact this a lot. And, as Nicholas McGee of Niner Noise pointed out, the 49ers have a tendency to start rookies in this kind of role, and the move forces the team to exercise patience with young defensive backs.

Three positions — maybe four, if you include Johnson — gone, and how many more to go?

San Francisco will probably elect to keep as many as six cornerbacks on their roster. It’s a fit for O’Neil’s defense, which will emphasize a more-attacking mode and a reliance on rested cover guys.

But which remaining three make the cut?

Kenneth Acker, who assumed a starting role for most of 2015, fell out of favor towards the tail end of the season. Despite being tied for the team lead in interceptions (three), Acker has yet to solidify his future with the franchise.

It’s doubtful the Niners part ways with him just yet, given his moments of promise, but he should be considered a strong-bubble member.

The same can’t be said of fellow 2014 draftee Keith Reaser, who only saw 82 snaps last season, per PFF.

Reaser, Marcus Cromartie, Chris Davis and, likely, Prince Charles Iworah (rookie) will have some fierce competition to land a roster spot. San Francisco probably won’t cut rookie corner Rashard Robinson after camp, although he’s not exactly guaranteed to earn a spot either.

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Call it a wild guesstimate right now, but Acker and Robinson make the cut. So does Johnson.

The rest? Well, each can hope he either finds a spot on the practice squad or winds up landing on another team after the two waves of roster cuts during the preseason.

The final scoop is this — San Francisco is banking on at least a few of these young corners to step up and turn into something viable. Remember, Brock was an undrafted free agent from 2010. While not exactly a stellar shutdown corner, he is reliable when healthy.

Paired with Ward, the Niners seem to have some decent starting options. Yet only time will tell how the rest of the cast shapes up.

Next: Full Depth Chart & Roster Predictions for the 2016 49ers

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.