San Francisco 49ers: 2019 ‘State of the Franchise’ (defensive backs)
Niner Noise presents its penultimate entry of the “State of the Franchise” series with a look at the defensive backs, where the San Francisco 49ers surprisingly made very little additions despite it being the team’s biggest liability.
Perhaps the biggest question facing the San Francisco 49ers defense this season is how will the secondary hold up?
The second biggest question may be querying why the team didn’t address the secondary either at the 2019 NFL Draft or in free agency.
As a result, most of the roster here has returned from 2018 with few additions.
In the “State of the Franchise” series, we look at the current state of the 2019 roster, as the 49ers get closer to training camp, position by position.
We won’t be doing full player profiles, for those we recommend taking a look at the “Who Is?” series by Niner Noise.
2019 State of the Franchise: Defensive line
Alex Brown
Alex Brown was not one of the original 10 undrafted free agents picked up by the 49ers, but fought his way to a training camp role after impressing in the rookie minicamp.
Brown had a strong final year at South Carolina State, but being undersized (5-foot-11, 170 pounds) would relegate him to nickel duties, which the 49ers look pretty set at.
Unless he can show some potential at safety, Brown may find it hard to crack the roster.
Adrian Colbert
Adrian Colbert is a former seventh-round draft choice, who looked like he could be a huge steal after a solid rookie season, but unfortunately became a victim of the dreaded sophomore slump last year.
Colbert has definite potential, and the improved defensive line should make it harder for young defensive backs like Colbert to get abused in 2019. Safety is an open competition so Colbert has a chance to bounce back.
Antone Exum
Antone Exum served as a spot starter last year, but he didn’t improve the secondary very much, as it still finished dead last in 2018 according to Pro Football Focus.
Still, with some experience starting now under his belt and some decent performances last season, Exum could be a handy depth player who can be entrusted to start a few games.
Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
An undrafted free agent out of Arizona, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles has good size and instincts and is a definite person to keep an eye on during training camp.
He would fit in well as a run-stopping strong safety, and could definitely compete for a roster spot or practice squad position.
Marcell Harris
Marcell Harris was injured for a good chunk of his rookie season with an injury he suffered in college, but he showed definite potential in the back half of the year to think he could be the 49ers potential strong safety of the future.
He has to tackle better, but he will battle for a starting role in 2019.
Tim Harris
The only drafted rookie at defensive back, Tim Harris a sixth-round selection out of Virginia who has been injury prone (he was medically redshirted in college twice) but offers major athletic upside.
Some are critical of the 49ers tendency to take injured players, but late in the draft is when you take risks on players and Harris has starting upside.
He needs to get healthy, though, to stay on the roster.
Dontae Johnson
A former 49er, Dontae Johnson has returned to the team that drafted him after bouncing around the league like a pinball last season.
He’s not very good, put plainly.
Greg Mabin
Although Greg Mabin was another player who ended up seeing substantial time on the field in 2018, he was not particularly good on the field.
Mabin is only 25 years old, however, and the experience could see him perform on a higher level in 2019, at least to the point he can remain on the roster.
Tarvarius Moore
Tarvarius Moore has bounced around on the 49ers when it comes to position. A safety at Southern Miss, Moore was moved to cornerback for his rookie season with the Niners, but has been moved back to safety for 2019.
Considering the weakness at the position and the athletic ability of Moore, a very big story in training camp will be if Moore can lock down a starting position at free safety.
Emmanuel Moseley
Emmanuel Moseley is one of the lesser names on the roster right now, but he deserves some credit as an undrafted free agent last season, who actually stuck on the practice squad before being promoted to a game against the Oakland Raiders last season.
Unfortunately for Moseley, he suffered an injury that game and ended up on injured reserve, so he didn’t get a chance to make a lasting impact.
Moseley is unlikely to remain on the roster, but can’t be counted out as he’s shown himself to be a fighter.
D.J. Reed
D.J. Reed showed himself a possible steal after a strong rookie season at nickel cornerback for 2018, and will compete to be the starting nickel corner for 2019 onward. If he continues to improve his play, it’s hard to not see him as a vital cog of the 49ers future.
He also has potential as a returner, but needs to improve his ball security to be entrusted with the role.
Tyree Robinson
Injuries to defensive backs in 2018 led the 49ers to poach Tyree Robinson from the Dallas Cowboys, however he didn’t see any action for San Francisco.
The odds are against Robinson, but he has the physical attributes of a good safety and decent production out of Oregon. So there may be a small chance he could at least land on the 49ers practice squad.
Richard Sherman
Richard Sherman was as good as 49ers fans could have wanted, as teams often refused to go near his side of the field and were often unsuccessful when they did.
He did regress slightly as someone coming off a serious injury would, but is now even healthier coming into this season.
That being said, he is getting older, so the 49ers won’t be able to rely on him to shut down half of the field for much longer.
Jaquiski Tartt
Jaquiski Tartt is very talented, but unfortunately usually very injured. That was true of 2018, and unfortunately for most of his pro career.
In fairness to Tartt, it wasn’t a matter of durability that he suffered a broken forearm as much as it was bad luck.
He should be favorite to be the starting strong safety for 2019.
Jason Verrett
One year ago, the 49ers took a risk on the injured Sherman to bolster their cornerback stocks and had it pay off. This year they’re hoping Jason Verrett can be that player.
This is a huge boom-or-bust year. Verrett will likely struggle with injury. But if he can be on the field, he’s arguably the most talented player in the secondary.
It’s worth the risk.
Jimmie Ward
Jimmie Ward is the most maligned player among the 49ers fanbase, but the team is hoping he can play a significant role in 2019.
Ward is the presumed starter at free safety, but will face a tough competition (especially from Moore) for the role in training camp.
K’Waun Williams
K’Waun Williams is one of the more dependable members of the 49ers roster at nickel cornerback, and looks set to battle Reed for that role at training camp.
Williams will have the leg up on Reed, however, and should get the job for Week 1.
Ahkello Witherspoon
A victim of the dreaded sophomore slump in 2018, Ahkello Witherspoon nonetheless did improve late in the season and still has potential to be a potential No. 1 corner for the 49ers.
Before getting injured, Witherspoon did in fact play exceptionally well down the stretch. He was amazingly the fifth best performing cornerback from Weeks 10 to 17 with only a 48.6 passer rating allowed.
This passed over to OTAs last month, too, earning a mention on Niner Noise as one of the standouts during the sessions.
Prediction
The 49ers are likely to keep six cornerbacks and five safeties on the roster, so we’ll stick with that.
For the corners we can lock in Sherman, Verrett, Witherspoon and K’Waun Williams. In addition Reed looks like the best candidate for the fifth position, due to his role as backup nickel corner as well as his special team abilities.
It’s a battle between Mabin and Harris for the last corner position. Williams would normally get the nod as the 49ers just invested a draft pick on him, but he’s already struggled with those injuries in camp, so Mabin could take the spot.
Next. 49ers 2019 training camp: Tarvarius Moore a player to watch. dark
Safety-wise, we can lock in Ward, Tartt, Moore and Harris. Colbert will battle with Exum for the fifth safety position, but I believe that Colbert has intriguing upside that sees him get the job.
This concludes the defensive side of the “State of the Franchise” series. Please join us later in the week as we take a quick look at the special teams to cap the series off before the 49ers open their training camp later this week on July 26.