No. 2: SF 49ers Cornerback Jason Verrett
The Niners were already shorthanded at cornerback, losing Richard Sherman (calf) to short-term injured reserve after Week 1. Then before Week 3, depth corner Ahkello Witherspoon was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
This thrust oft-injured veteran cornerback Jason Verrett into a starting job on Sunday, which seemed daunting enough considering it was his first start since being with the Los Angeles Chargers back in 2017 and seeing only six regular-season games since the beginning of 2016.
That, combined with his ugly two snaps seen in total with San Francisco last year, didn’t offer up much by the way of hope for Verrett in such a role for Week 3.
But Verrett delivered, picking up three tackles and nearly breaking up two passes, doing enough to at least get in the way to force incompletions even if they didn’t result in official passes defended.
True, Verrett was tagged with a defensive-holding call, although it was awfully ticky-tack.
What matters more, however, is Verrett looked all the part of a quality starter and should retain this role alongside Sherman when the latter returns.