49ers roster: 5 spicy position battles to watch during OTAs
By Peter Panacy
Position battle No. 3: 49ers cornerback
The Niners’ cornerback room was a glaring weakness to close out 2021. It’s now a position of strength, at least in terms of overall depth.
Like the defensive line, San Francisco probably has its starters figured out with Charvarius Ward and Jason Verrett manning the boundary, while Emmanuel Moseley bumps inside to nickel cornerback to help alleviate the free-agent loss of K’Waun Williams earlier this offseason.
Three spots out of a likely six for the 53-man roster, and we haven’t even included some of the other veteran returnees who’ll be battling it out for placement, including Dontae Johnson, Darqueze Dennard, Ambry Thomas and Deommodore Lenoir.
Oh, and there are rookies, too.
The 49ers spent a fifth-round draft pick on Toledo nickel corner Samuel Womack, and while he might not challenge Moseley right away, he’ll be in the discussion. Round 6 pickup, Tariq Castro-Fields, might be on the weaker side of the bubble right now, but a strong showing during OTAs might push him up the depth chart a little bit.
No matter how one looks at it, there are likely to be some notably shocking cuts at this particular position in a few months.