San Francisco 49ers Cornerbacks: Perrish Cox or Chris Culliver?
By David Ochoa
The San Francisco 49ers are in a tight salary cap situation for the 2015 off-season. They have a lot of tough decisions to make in the next couple months regarding their roster. They have question marks all over the roster, their cornerbacks are one of the biggest.
Both Perrish Cox and Chris Culliver are set to become free agents this year. Without those two the 49ers would lose the two corners that started the majority of their games last year. Without them, the only player with starter experience is Tramaine Brock.
While Brock was the 49ers’ best corner two years ago, he has limited starter experience and he practically missed the entire 2014 season with an injury. Many fans and analysts forget that before his breakout season in 2013, Brock was a special teams player that narrowly escaped being cut every year. After missing a year, no one really knows if he will return to his 2013 form or his pre-2013 form.
The depth behind Brock on the depth chart is bleak. The depth chart is filled with young, inexperienced players that the 49ers most likely don’t want to send out to cover the world’s best receivers. The 49ers aren’t going to put Jimmie Ward on the outside, Donate Johnson is still very raw, and guys like Keith Reaser and Kenneth Acker missed their rookie season with injuries and have no NFL experience.
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The 49ers trotted out Leon McFadden and Marcus Cromartie because of injuries late last season, but with their own guys coming back, it’s hard to imagine either will be on the roster next year.
If the 49ers can bring back either Cox or Culliver, the quality of the secondary will immediately be raised. Unfortunately, with how the cap situation is, the 49ers can possibly only bring back one of Cox or Culliver.
So who should return?
The answer to this question lies in the past. If you know the recent history of these players, then you will probably realize who is the better play. Earlier this year I wrote about the history of the 49ers’ cornerbacks here.
In 2011, Culliver’s rookie year, he beat out Brock for the outside spot in the nickel package. He never relinquished this spot for the next two seasons after that. During training camp before the 2013 season, Culliver tore his ACL and was out for the season. This is important because without Culliver’s injury, both Brock and Cox might have never even been in this conversation.
In 2013, Brock still didn’t see the field much because he was stuck behind Carlos Rogers, Tarrell Brown, and Nnamdi Asomugha. But after Asomugha got injured, Brock was given the opportunity to prove himself. We all know how that went, and the 49ers signed Brock to a 4-year extension to be a starter.
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Now if Culliver hadn’t gotten hurt during training camp, Culliver would have come in for Asomugha and Brock might not even be on the roster right now. The bottom line here is that before 2013, Culliver was always seen as better than Brock.
Cox’s history isn’t as positive as Culliver’s. Cox was drafted in the 5th round by the Denver Broncos but was released after he was charged and acquitted of rape. While it’s important to analyze a player’s actions off the field, I want to focus more on his playing history. Besides, it’s not like Culliver’s history is exactly spotless either.
After Cox was released from Denver, the 49ers were the first team to give him a shot to come back and play for 2012 season.
Cox didn’t make much of a contribution in 2012, and in 2013 he was sixth on the depth chart and in danger of being cut. But after Culliver’s injury, it opened up a spot for him on the roster.
Despite the injuries to both Culliver and later Asomugha, Cox was released from the 49ers in Novemeber 2013. He was signed a few weeks later by the Seattle Seahawks, but was released just a day later. In December 2013 he was once again signed by the Seahawks, but just like the first time was released a short time later.
The 49ers suffered one more injury at the corner position when Rogers went down in the last game of the season. This opened up the nickel spot for Cox to come back and play for San Francsico.
Fast forward to 2014, and Cox is fourth on the depth chart behind starters Culliver and Brock, and Ward who played in the slot. After Brock went down with turf toe, it moved Cox into the starting lineup.
Cox then proceeded to play at a Pro Bowl level for the first half of the season. He played so well that many fans were calling for Culliver to be benched instead of Cox when Brock returned from injury.
Cox fell off towards the end of the season, but he played well enough that we’re even having this conversation about whether we should keep him or Culliver.
What history tells us is that Cox was practically a journeyman corner that has had one good half of a season in his career, while Culliver has always been considered better than both Cox and Brock by the coaches. Culliver’s absence opened up the opportunities for both Cox and Brock.
Yes Cox has shown he can be a good player, but when you can only afford one, I say you go with the more consistent option, and the one who has always been considered to be better by the coaches.