Round 2, Pick No. 43 Overall: 49ers select cornerback Tyson Campbell, Georgia
The Niners are still going to need cornerbacks in this year’s NFL Draft, and the move up from No. 12 overall eliminates that being a possibility in Round 1.
Yet there has to be an effort to replace veteran corner Richard Sherman now, and long-term replacements for one-year returnees, like Jason Verrett and K’Waun Williams, are on the table, too.
Georgia cornerback Tyson Campbell might not have the pedigree of first-round corners like Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II or South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn. But Campbell fits the mold for what San Francisco has traditionally employed on the boundary.
At 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, the long and lanky Campbell does have some durability concerns. And while he wasn’t a big ballhawk at Georgia, Campbell’s coverage skills are more than good enough to put him in discussion for a quality second-round selection.
It’s likely a player like Campbell would perform better in a predominantly zone-style scheme, which the 49ers run, instead of having to use his reactionary skills solely.
What’s more important, though, is the Niners already have two starting-caliber boundary corners on the roster in Verrett and Emmanuel Moseley, meaning Campbell wouldn’t automatically have to be forced into the defensive fray.