49ers’ 5 most important defensive players entering 2019
By Peter Panacy
No. 4: Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon
The 49ers’ most important cornerback this season isn’t the veteran, Richard Sherman, who’ll look to lock down the left side of the defensive secondary in 2019.
Instead, it’s third-year pro Ahkello Witherspoon.
Last season, opposing offenses elected not to target Sherman, despite him coming off a 2017 Achilles tear. Instead, Witherspoon bore the brunt of pass targets, resulting in a massive regression from his rookie campaign and a team-leading seven accepted penalties.
All told, Witherspoon ended up being Pro Football Focus‘ last-ranked cornerback out of 112 qualifiers last year.
Not good.
Fortunately, Witherspoon looks as if he’s solved some of the coverage issues during organized team activities. And while the Niners also brought in veteran corner Jason Verrett to compete with Witherspoon, the fact the former has appeared in just five regular-season games dating back to the start of 2016 suggests Witherspoon will see his fair share of the field this season.
If teams take the same approach as last year and target Witherspoon a lot more than Sherman, the former’s importance can’t be understated.