There has been a lot of speculation about whom the San Francisco 49ers will take with the No. 27 pick overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. While the prevailing wisdom ahead of free agency was that they’d add a wide receiver, after the Mike Evans signing, there have been predictions they will select an edge rusher or even an offensive lineman.
One position that hasn’t been mentioned much is cornerback, and the Niners could shock everyone if they decided to bolster the secondary.
There have been some recent rumors linking them to safeties in the draft, but there has not been very much buzz at all connecting San Francisco to a corner.
Cornerback is not seen as a huge need for the 49ers, given they have Deommodore Lenoir as their top guy, and Upton Stout looked solid as the nickel in his rookie season.
Yet, Renardo Green was not all that great last season and he got chewed out by head coach Kyle Shanahan in the playoffs. It seems like the Niners are going to give him another chance, but it may not be the worst idea to bring in some competition.
The draft is pretty deep on first-round cornerback talent as some projections have five corners going in the first 32 picks.
That gives the Niners a chance to get a pretty solid player of the draft goes their way.
One guy to look out for could be Chris Johnson out of San Diego State. CBS actually ranks him as the 27th best player in the draft, so by that rationale, he’d be a solid pick for San Francisco.
He had four interceptions in his last season with the Aztecs, including two pick sixes, so the guy can make some explosive plays, which would be huge for a defensive unit that struggled to create turnovers last season and was tied for second-fewest interceptions.
It also may not be a bad idea to beef up at cornerback, considering the quality of wide receivers in the NFC West. The Los Angeles Rams have Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, while the Seattle Seahawks have Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp. The Niners need to cover those guys, and based on recent years, if they can’t get pressure on the quarterback, they’ll need some defenders who can cover those elite receivers well.
One could argue the 49ers have other more pressing needs, but cornerback is an underrated position they Niners can improve at, and it would catch a lot of people by surprise if they drafted one in the first round.