49ers NFL Draft: 4 way-too-early targets for San Francisco in 2022

49ers Draft Target No. 1: Cornerback Josh Jobe, Alabama

The 49ers are likely to experience some serious attrition at cornerback next offseason with Jason Verrett and K’Waun Williams both hitting the free-agent market and getting up there in age.

And while the Niners drafted two cornerbacks this year, Ambry Thomas and Deommodore Lenoir, the typical draft law of averages suggests only one of them will pan out to any desired levels of expectations, meaning there will still be some gaps to plug on the defensive side of the ball.

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Don’t be shocked at all if San Francisco uses its first pick on a cornerback.

It’ll be interesting to see how Alabama cornerback Josh Jobe plays in the wake of the Crimson Tide’s top corner from last year, Patrick Surtain II, leaving for the pro ranks. Now fully immersed in the spotlight, the 6-foot-1, 192-pound Jobe is a boundary-type corner who might lack the finesse and pro-level readiness Surtain has. But Jobe was still productive in 2020 nonetheless, recording 39 tackles, two forced fumbles and 11 passes broken up.

An excellent senior year could push Jobe into first-round consideration, but the early prognosis is he’s more of a day-two selection and someone likely straddling the boundary between Rounds 2 and 3.

Right in the area where the 49ers hope to be picking.