49ers roster: 5 players who are playing themselves off the team
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: 49ers Cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick
Earlier this season, it made plenty of sense for the Niners to reinforce their cornerback room by adding free-agent veteran Dre Kirkpatrick. Particularly after losing starting corner Jason Verrett to a season-ending ACL tear.
San Francisco was convinced enough, though, to insert Kirkpatrick into the starting lineup back in Week 4 against the Seattle Seahawks, and those results didn’t go well on his season-high 56 defensive snaps where he allowed three receptions on four targets.
Read More: The curious case of the 49ers’ cornerback situation
Since then, the 49ers have only inserted Kirkpatrick on a limited basis, including a key situation in the Week 7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, where he surrendered a game-sealing touchdown to wide receiver Michael Pittman.
That was one of only three defensive snaps seen in that game, and the Niners refused to put him on the field on defense in Week 8.
True, San Francisco doesn’t exactly have a lot of proven options at the position. But with the hope rookie corner Deommodore Lenoir can assert himself more in the coming weeks, there’s a strong chance Kirkpatrick winds up being an excess commodity very soon.