SF 49ers: Rethinking top 2021 NFL Draft needs halfway through season

SF 49ers NFL Draft Need No. 1: Cornerback

If the SF 49ers O-line is likely to experience some shakeups in the not-so-distant future, the team’s secondary is going to look completely different in 2021.

Defensive backs Richard Sherman, K’Waun Williams, Jaquiski Tartt, Ahkello Witherspoon, Emmanuel Moseley (RFA) and Jason Verrett are all in contract years this season, and it’s going to be difficult for the Niners to bring more than a handful of them back even if those players agree to a reduced contract.

San Francisco 49ers

Verrett’s lengthy injury history could lower his cost. But given how well he’s played in 2020 in what’s looking to be a Pro Bowl-caliber season, there’s a chance he prices himself out of San Francisco’s comfort range.

Same goes for Williams, who remains one of the league’s best nickel corners.

San Francisco has some adequate safety depth in development to somewhat alleviate the potential loss of Tartt, so one figures a cornerback might be the team’s No. 1 target when the 49ers’ number is called in Round 1 of the draft.

And it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Niners look hard at one of these first- or second-round corners as legitimate options to reinforce the secondary:

• Patrick Surtain II, Alabama
• Shaun Wade, Ohio State
• Eric Stokes, Georgia
• Tyson Campbell, Georgia
• Marco Wilson, Florida
• Paulson Adebo, Stanford
• Israel Mukuamu, South Carolina

The 2021 NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 29.