San Francisco 49ers: It’s time to shake up the cornerback depth chart

After some failed attempts to rotate the San Francisco 49ers cornerbacks in and out during Week 6 loss to the Green Bay Packers, it’s time to see what the Niners have in their depth over the rest of 2018.

Take away Richard Sherman, and the San Francisco 49ers may have the worst crop of cornerbacks in the NFL in 2018.

After falling 33-30 in heartbreaking fashion to the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh might want to strongly consider some shakeups within his secondary.

Despite a costly illegal-contact penalty on the Packers’ game-winning drive Monday night, Sherman has been nothing short of elite, locking down his side of the field and all but discouring opponents’ quarterbacks from targeting his side of the field.

It’s the other side that’s more than just a little problematic.

Now at 1-5, this season is nowhere close to being anything but a rebuild year. And while San Francisco will likely add cornerback to its list of offseason positional needs, the team might as well start experimenting with different players and looks over the remainder of 2018.

Here’s an interesting note: Second-year cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon played exactly zero defensive snaps in Week 6 versus the Packers. This, after starting the year as San Francisco’s No. 2 corner opposite Sherman.

Granted, Witherspoon’s sophomore year at the pro level hasn’t been good. Pro Football Focus ranks him the No. 107 cornerback out of 111 qualifiers on the year so far.

It’s understandable why Witherspoon didn’t see defensive field time against the future Hall of Famer, Aaron Rodgers, in Green Bay. This wasn’t exactly the kind of game to help build Witherspoon’s confidence back up. Next week versus the Los Angeles Rams and their high-flying offense might not be either.

Veteran defensive back Jimmie Ward started in Week 6 and looked OK enough, aside from the massive blown coverage on a 60-yard completion to Packers wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the first quarter.

Ward exited the game in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury, though, which forced backup defensive back Greg Mabin into the game.

That didn’t go well at all, as Rodgers targeted Mabin frequently and often on Green Bay’s crucial fourth-quarter scoring drives.

So what’s the point of all this? Why argue for a shakeup in the 49ers’ defensive backfield?

There’s no doubting this position is one of need for San Francisco this offseason. And there haven’t exactly been many positive options presenting themselves at the outside boundary spot opposite Sherman.

With the season awash, though, why not give rookie defensive back Tarvarius Moore a shot at starting? The 49ers invested a third-round NFL Draft pick this year in him, and he’s making the transition from safety to corner. It’s not exactly an easy move. But those in-game reps would provide valuable experience to someone in which San Francisco invested heavily.

And despite playing relatively well last game, Ward shouldn’t be pressed into a starter’s role unless there’s some significant attrition. Playing on his fifth-year option, it’s pretty clear he won’t be a part of the Niners’ long-term plans, and there’s next to zero chance he returns to the team in 2019.

Mabin probably isn’t the answer. At least his efforts in Week 6 suggested so. But it would be smart to simply let Witherspoon and Moore battle it out for starting duties on that side of the field. Both players could still easily be part of the 49ers’ rebuild. They’re both young and developing. That competition would do some good.

And at this point, there’s nothing to lose by at least giving the youth on the team some chances to hone its talent.

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