San Francisco 49ers: 10 Dark-Horse Candidates to Make the 53-Man Roster in 2016
By Peter Panacy
No. 4: Cornerback Prince Charles Iworah
San Francisco’s final pick in the 2016 NFL Draft landed former Western Kentucky cornerback Prince Charles Iworah.
At 5-foot-11 and 193 pounds, Iworah is more of a project defensive back than anything else and, considering how deep cornerback is entering camp, Iworah’s chances to crack the 53-man roster are slim at best.
But this isn’t to say they’re nonexistent either.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein described Iworah as an “explosive athlete” and went into further detail about his projection at the pro level:
"Iworah’s tape is a little inconsistent at this time and his inability to mirror and match targets with consistency is troubling as a man-cover cornerback. While I see the explosive athleticism, his actual cover skills need enough fine-tuning that he may have to spend a year stashed on a practice squad."
Iworah is raw, but so are a number of other young corners on San Francisco’s roster. Seventh-round draft picks hardly ever make Week 1 rosters but, when considering fellow rookie corners Will Redmond (ACL recovery) and Rashard Robinson (character concerns) have red flags of their own, perhaps Iworah’s skill set is enough to convince the 49ers coaching staff he deserves an early shot.
This will be an interesting preseason for Iworah. He may see a lot of field time during exhibition games in order to give the Niners a better opinion on what they have.
But this opens up the door for another team to scoop him up if San Francisco elects to try and place him on the practice squad. Perhaps the 49ers try to limit his exposure and stash him that way instead.
With so much uncertainty at this position though, Iworah could manage to find his way onto the back end of the depth chart if his athleticism outshines his flaws.
Next: No. 3: John Lunsford