3 things to expect from rookie Deommodore Lenoir in 2021

The 49ers selected Deommodore Lenoir in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. What should fans expect to see from the rookie cornerback in 2021?

The 2020 NFL Draft came and went without the San Francisco 49ers selecting one defensive back. The 2020 season saw the Niners continually add players to the IR week after week.

And other than Jason Verrett, the rest of the cornerback position group was oft-injured and didn’t provide the same consistency that Verrett did during the season.

Therefore, it was probably a safe bet to say San Francisco would be going defensive-back heavy in the 2021 NFL Draft. The team took cornerback Ambry Thomas out of Michigan in the third round (102nd overall).

Two picks later in the fifth round, they selected another cornerback.

The fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft was extremely busy for the 49ers. They had three picks alone in that round. In addition to their original pick at 155, the 49ers also gained a pick at 172 via trade and earned a compensatory pick at 180.

With the 172nd overall pick and their second selection of the fifth round, they drafted Deommodore Lenoir, a cornerback out of the University of Oregon.

In the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, Lenoir started in all six regular-season games and one bowl game for the Ducks. In that shortened season though he showed out.

Lenoir was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference second team in 2020 which also happened to be his senior season. He was a solid contributor to a Ducks team that saw five of its players be selected in the draft.

49er Faithful are probably now wondering what to expect from Lenoir in the 2021 season.

Let’s take a look at three things we can expect.