Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson keeps popping up on 49ers draft boards

The 49ers could stand for some cornerbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft, and TCU’s Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson seems to find himself in the discussion a lot.

A year ago, it appeared as if the San Francisco 49ers had the perfect plan to replace veteran nickel cornerback K’Waun Williams, who departed to the Denver Broncos via free agency.

That plan? Insert fifth-round NFL Draft pick Samuel Womack into the starting role, and it made more than enough sense after Womack’s impressive preseason efforts.

Womack became mostly a non-factor during the regular season, though, which led to the Niners inserting the versatile Jimmie Ward into that nickel spot. But, with Ward also now having gone the way of free agency to the Houston Texans this offseason, there’s possibly another void to be addressed at this same position.

San Francisco added a possible candidate to fill the role in former Atlanta Falcons defensive back Isaiah Oliver, but it’s probably safe to admit that this spot in the defense is very much up for grabs.

And that’s where one particular TCU defender keeps coming into play.

Could 49ers take Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson in NFL Draft? Plenty of mocks suggest so

If the 49ers aren’t completely sold on Oliver, or at least want to add some immediate competition with long-term starting potential, there’s one player who should be on general manager John Lynch’s radar this draft season.

TCU’s Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson.

Provided by CFB at Sports Reference
Generated 4/6/2023.

At 5-foot-8 and 178 pounds, Hodges-Tomlinson has a similar makeup as Williams. Like Williams, size isn’t an issue for the former Horned Frog who plays much bigger than his body would suggest.

With some ball-hawking tendencies that include five interceptions over the last two seasons, he could easily be the preferred selection for the Niners with one of their three compensatory picks (Nos. 99, 101 and 102) at the end of Round 3.

Perhaps not so surprisingly, there are a number of mocks and projections that have San Francisco eyeing Hodges-Tomlinson.

Such as Pro Football Focus, which stated the following:

"Hodges-Tomlinson would give them an option to man the slot immediately, or they could look more to the boundary for cornerback help if they think somebody like Samuel Womack can be their slot corner going forward."

CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards had a similar take about the cornerback going to the 49ers, too, by saying that Hodges-Tomlinson “could be within range to fill out that secondary.”

A Draft Wire three-round mock draft by Jeff Risdon also had Hodges-Tomlinson going to the Niners, and the cornerback even made it onto one of Niner Noise’s recent mocks, too.

How about that?

With three selections at the tail end of the third round, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see San Francisco go after Hodges-Tomlinson to reinforce that secondary and potentially land a starting-caliber nickel.