49ers DC Nick Sorensen subtly put Samuel Womack on the hot seat
By Peter Panacy
Defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen has a plan at nickel cornerback, one that doesn't bode well for Samuel Womack.
The San Francisco 49ers featured their first-year defensive coordinator, Nick Sorensen, to the media from rookie minicamp over the weekend.
It's early, but from the sounds of his presser, it seems that third-year pro cornerback Samuel Womack III faces an uncertain future.
The Niners made substantial changes at cornerback during the offseason, adding veterans Isaac Yiadom and Rock Ya-Sin via free agency before grabbing Florida State's Renardo Green in Round 2 of last April's NFL Draft.
While Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir are all but cemented in as San Francisco's top-two corners heading into offseason workouts, the rest of the incumbent depth chart is very fluid. And it's uncertain for those who don't have clear-cut roles entering 2024.
Especially with a small nugget Sorensen dropped during his presser.
Nick Sorensen: Renardo Green to play nickel, spells danger for Samuel Womack
Sorensen informed reporters that his plan was for Green to begin his pro career by playing at nickel cornerback, not on the boundary.
#49ers rookie CB Renardo Green will get his initial look at the nickel, according to Nick Sorensen. Green did a bit of it at Florida State but was primarily on the outside.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) May 10, 2024
Sorensen said he'd rather Green learn the inside first knowing he can always bump back outside.
While Sorensen didn't come out and say it directly, this announcement about Green implies that Womack's job and roster spot as a backup nickel won't be safe. Even if Green is pegged as a year-one backup, likely supporting Lenoir while either Yiadom or Ya-Sin take the other boundary spot opposite Ward, Womack potentially gets left out of the equation altogether.
It makes sense.
During his rookie preseason, Womack caught plenty of attention for a two-interception exhibition game against the Green Bay Packers, which suggested the 49ers had drafted yet another late-round hidden gem.
Womack, a fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft, saw action in 16 regular-season games that year but only seven last season, and the bulk of his field time came on special teams.
It'll be hard for Womack to carve out a role based solely on his special teams laurels.
Should Green thrive -- and as a second-round pick, he'll be given nearly every opportunity to do so -- Womack could easily be a victim of the numbers game.
Even if Sorensen didn't directly put him on the hot seat.
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