No. 3: SF 49ers should sign a cornerback like Ross Cockrell
This isn’t the first time Niner Noise has suggested the team goes after free-agent cornerback Ross Cockrell, who at 29 years old, has a halfway decent pedigree after bouncing around the league over the past five seasons.
At 6-foot-0 and 190 pounds, Cockrell is build adequately enough to handle boundary duties, and he showed enough ability getting in the way of the ball and its intended receiver, breaking up 44 passes over the last four years.
Tackling is a bit of an issue for him, sure, as he had a missed-tackle rate of 16.2 percent last season with the Carolina Panthers.
But one could make a sound argument Cockrell would be an upgrade over the SF 49ers’ current starting option, Ahkello Witherspoon, who finds himself filling in for Richard Sherman.
Witherspoon surrendered the Jets’ lone touchdown in Week 2, and it’s pretty evident he won’t be fitting into the Niners’ long-term plans beyond this season. Plus, with veteran corner Jason Verrett on the mend with another injury again, it would make more than enough sense to plug the gap with someone more reliable and available.
Cockrell would fit the bill.
Speaking of Verrett, meanwhile…