San Francisco 49ers: Early 3-round 2019 NFL mock draft upgrades defense
By Kevin Saito
Aside from Richard Sherman, San Francisco’s cornerback play has been less than stellar. They haven’t been as bad as some teams, but not as good as plenty of others either. About the best you can say about them is that they’ve been, well, okay.
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Though they rank 13th in the league in pass defense, they’ve given up 28 passing touchdowns, which ranks them 29th.
The can change those fortunes by taking Andraez Williams – aka Greedy Williams – out of LSU with the second (as of now) overall pick. Adding Williams to a cornerback group headlined by Sherman will give the 49ers a pretty solid 1-2 punch.
Tall cornerbacks sometimes struggle against smaller, quicker receivers. But Williams (6-3, 185 pounds) has the speed and athleticism to do just that – and he’s roughly the same size as Sherman, who’s fared well in defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s system.
Williams has been a force for the Tigers the past two seasons, snagging eight interceptions and breaking up 19 passes over his 24 games at LSU. He’s widely considered the best cornerback prospect in the 2019 draft class, though some would argue that distinction belongs to Georgia’s Deandre Baker. Regardless, he would be a definite upgrade over Ahkello Witherspoon, who’s had his share of troubles defending the pass over the past couple of seasons.
An outside cornerback tandem of Sherman and Williams could give opposing receivers fits and would vastly improve San Francisco’s ability to defend the pass.