3 reasons 49ers passed on cornerbacks in 2020 NFL Draft

No. 1: 2021 NFL Draft Is Deep at Cornerback

While wide receiver garnered a lot of the depth attention in the 2020 NFL Draft, cornerback was pretty deep, too, prompting some of the surprise behind the 49ers not addressing the position.

But the 2021 class looks to be very deep at cornerback as well.

San Francisco 49ers

Our friends over at With the First Pick did an initial breakdown of possibilities, highlighted by Alabama’s Patrick Surtain Jr. at the top of the class. South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn is also on their list as a player to watch, while Ohio State’s Shaun Wade is a versatile defensive back capable of playing multiple positions within the secondary.

Surtain and Horn probably won’t slip to what is hopefully a late, late pick in Round 1 for San Francisco.

But there are plenty of options on the fringes of the first and second day, which include:

• Paulson Adebo, Stanford
• Tyson Campbell, Georgia
• Israel Mukuamu, South Carolina
• Josh Jobe, Alabama

Unlike 2020, the 49ers still have a first- and second-round pick at their disposal for 2021. Like 2020, there’s always the possibility John Lynch executes some sort of trade down to maximize the value.

Either way, there’s a strong chance the Niners merely punted on this need in 2020, electing to postpone it for a year to cash in on what’s looking like just as good a cornerback class in 2021.