San Francisco 49ers 2021 Roster Preview: Secondary
With the 49ers starting their training camp tomorrow, now is the time to wrap up our look at the 49ers roster for 2021 with a look at secondary school.
Jason Verrett
When Richard Sherman’s injuries forced Jason Verrett into the starting XI, the veteran used his full potential. While Verrett struggled with injuries throughout his career, none of it showed in 2020 as he was able to play 802 defensive snapshots of his career.
Verrett’s ability to be a lockdown man corner was enormous for a 49ers defense who struggled all season to generate a pass rush with Nick Bosa and Dee Ford off the line-up. These injuries forced Robert Saleh to use the Blitz more frequently than ever before in his tenure with the 49ers, necessitating the need for man-marking in secondary school.
Verrett would end 2020 with 60 tackles – a career high – and 2 interceptions, while allowing a quarterback rating of just 76.2 on throws in his coverage.
San Francisco was able to bring Verrett back on a one-year contract for $ 3.6 million.
Emmanuel Moseley
Moseley originally came to the 49ers in 2018 as an undrafted free agent, worked his way into the starting line-up for nine games in 2019 and started 2020 as one of the two best cornerbacks of the 49ers.
Injuries would put Moseley out of the starting XI in the middle of the 2020 season, and his substitute’s game would keep him on the sidelines for all but 175 snaps in the second half of the year.
The concern at Moseley is its ability to stay healthy. He was injured on his NFL debut against the Oakland Raiders in 2018 and struggled with injuries again in 2020. In three NFL seasons, Moseley has a high of just 576 snapshots in one season.
The 49ers re-sign Moseley for a 2-year contract for $ 9.384 million. While the numbers look impressive, Moseley’s cap hit for 2021 is very low and the dead cap for 2022, should it be released, is below $ 2 million.
K’Waun Williams
San Francisco was able to re-sign Williams for 1 year for $ 2,377,500 during the vacancy.
Williams was one of the first free agents to be signed by the 49ers after being taken over by John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, and has been one of the top secondary players for the past four years.
Braced by injuries in 2020, Williams was limited to a career low of 284 snaps and allowed a quarterback rating of 81.9
Dontae Johnson
Johnson has been primarily an outside cornerback throughout his career and was moved inside after injuries to Williams and Jamar Taylor. Johnson had zone coverage issues on his first start at Nickel Corner against Buffalo. Johnson would hold up much better against Washington over the next week.
Ambry Thomas
Playing for Michigan as a true freshman, Thomas was named Wolverines’ Skill Position Player of the Year in 2019. Under the coordination of Dan Brown, the Michigan defense was very heavy with man marking and Thomas excelled in showing the ability to line up effectively both outside and in the slot. In addition to his duties as cornerback, Thomas returned with kickoffs and even played some offensive for Michigan, counting two receptions for five yards and one rush for eleven yards in 2018.
Demomodore Lenoir
Lenoir was a three year old starter for the Oregon Ducks, his most productive season coming in his sophomore year when he finished with the best three interceptions and 12 passes of his career. Much like his 49ers draft pick Ambry Thomas, Lenoir was rarely challenged for showing the ability to take down the best receivers in the Pac 12, including current New England Patriots receiver N’Keal Harry.
Jimmie Ward
After the 2019 season, the 49ers gave Ward a new $ 28.5 million 3-year deal to return. Even if he doesn’t make a lot of big plays, he’s great at stopping opponents from making them too, and that’s his main job.
While Ward would miss a chance at an interception that could have changed the result against New Orleans, a few weeks later he would come up with two major forced fumbles in a jaw-dropping win over the Los Angeles Rams.
The 849 snaps Ward played in 2020 were the most the seven-year-old veteran has played in his career, and he finished third best with the 49ers with 73 tackles overall. Ward’s ability to slide down from its normal safety position and cover a slot receiver or tight end in nickel or dime situations offers a lot of flexibility and allows DeMeco Ryans to disguise the covers.
Jaquiski Tartt
Tartt is one of the best collateral in the NFL when she’s healthy. Unfortunately for the 49ers, the six-year veteran has missed 24 games in the past four seasons and never played a full 16-game schedule.
The veteran played a career low of 373 Snaps in 2020. The highlight of his season was the season opener against Arizona when he intercepted a pass from Kyler Murray, Murray’s first turnover in his young career against the 49ers.
In 2020, Tartt completed 30 tackles, one interception and four passes defended
Marcell Harris
Harris made four starts in 2021, finishing them with 37 tackles, three passes defended, two forced fumbles, and two restored fumbles
The 2018 round six draft pick had problems with missed tackles early in his career as he was a bit over-aggressive, but showed a huge improvement in that area, reducing his missed tackles to the top 9.8 percent of his career.
Tony Jefferson
Jefferson broke into the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals in 2013 after signing as an undrafted free agent. James Bettcher, the 49ers’ new Senior Defensive Advisor, was the coach of the Outside Linebackers at Arizona at the time before being promoted to Defensive Coordinator. This gives the 49ers additional information about the type of player and the person who Jefferson is.
The veteran has not played a game at the Baltimore Ravens since his cruciate ligament rupture in Week 5 of the 2019 season. He will almost certainly fight for the squad spot.
Tavon Wilson
Originally a second-round draft pick for the New England Patriots, Wilson would only make four starts with the club before joining the Detroit Lions for four seasons and then joining the Indianapolis Colts for 2020.
Wilson was primarily a rotation game throughout his career, starting only 45 of the 125 games played in his career. There was much like it last season with Indianapolis as he only made two starts while playing 422 snaps, 203 of which were in special teams.
Hufanga’s story
Hufanga was named Consensus First-Team All-American and Pac 12 Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2020. Hufanga suffered two broken collarbones, a split shoulder and had concussions while at USC. While his talent would have lifted him much higher in the design order, those injuries dropped him. Despite the injury history, this was the perfect place to take a risk for a player who has shown that he can be a very strong player with health issues.
In just six games in 2020, Hufanga proved to be a playmaker with 62 tackles, 4 interceptions, 1 pass breakup and 2 forced fumbles.
Tarvarius Moore
The 2018 third-round draft pick entered the final year of his rookie contract. Unfortunately, he tore his Achilles tendon in the last OTA training session of the offseason and will miss the season.
Outlook for 2021
Verrett, Moseley and Williams are said to be the starters on the outside, Tartt and Ward are safe.
The planned secondary school starters’ injury history means the depth of this group could be tested throughout the season. Up to this point in his career, Verrett could only play at least 13 games twice in one season, as a member of the Chargers in 2015 and last season.
It is similar with Williams, Moseley and Tartt. Williams has never played a full season; the 15 games in 2019 are a career high. The same goes for Moseley, who only played 175 snaps in the second half of 2020, and Tartt, who only played 36 games in the last four seasons.
Thomas may be able to push Moseley for the starting role against Verrett during the training camp. Lenoir and Johnson will also ensure good depth outside and in the slot.
In the security positions, Harris, Hufanga and Jefferson will fight for the backup role behind Tartt. Meanwhile, Wilson appears to be the main contender behind Ward on free security.
It will be particularly interesting to see how the 49ers use Hufanga during training camp and the preseason. The rookie spent time in college as a single high safety but was also sometimes used in a linebacker role, much like the 49ers used Marcell Harris from time to time last season and Eric Reid in 2017.
