49ers roster: 5 players who won’t be back with San Francisco in 2023
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: 49ers cornerback Ambry Thomas
It’s been quite the two years for two-year pro cornerback Ambry Thomas.
Thomas went from a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft to being inactive his first few weeks with San Francisco during the regular season, then struggling when finally called upon to start because of injury attrition, and then improving to the point where he was in the conversation to start in 2022, yes, it’s been a ride.
Except for Thomas’ sophomore year in the NFL hasn’t exactly been promising.
True, the 49ers adding cornerback Charvarius Ward in NFL free agency last offseason bumped everyone down the depth chart. But Thomas didn’t help his own cause by struggling in training camp, and he’s now buried pretty far behind other defensive backs like Dontae Johnson and Deommodore Lenoir.
All to the point where Thomas has seen a mere 16 defensive snaps despite the Niners already having lost starting cornerback Emmanuel Moseley to a season-ending ACL tear.
And while Thomas has remained a special teams contributor, it doesn’t appear as if he’s trending in the right direction for San Francisco’s defense.
It wouldn’t be shocking if Thomas’ career with the 49ers spans a mere two years, nothing more.