San Francisco 49ers: 5 players who’ll need bounce-back years in 2019
By Peter Panacy
No. 1: Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon
Perhaps no other player on the 49ers bore the brunt of defensive frustrations more than second-year pro Ahkello Witherspoon, who was all but handed the starting boundary cornerback job opposite Richard Sherman entering 2018.
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Witherspoon had to understand he would be targeted frequently during the regular season, particularly with opposing quarterbacks avoiding targeting Sherman.
Well, that happened. And it didn’t go well.
For the vast majority of the first half of 2018, Witherspoon would be susceptible to giving up at least one big play per game. When he wasn’t, Witherspoon was frequently slapped with defensive holding and pass-interference calls. His seven accepted penalties led all Niners players last year.
On a good note, Witherspoon seemed to turn things around down the stretch before landing on injured reserve with a knee injury on Dec. 19.
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That’s hopefully a sign of things to come. But what San Francisco is looking for is consistency, and that’s an area in which Witherspoon had issues for much of 2018.