San Francisco 49ers: 3 players on the hot seat entering 2019
By Justin Fried
2. Ahkello Witherspoon, CB
The 49ers didn’t address their secondary in the way that many thought and hoped they would this offseason. The hope is that the team’s revamped pass rush could help alleviate some of the concerns with the defensive backfield.
But that ultimately remains to be seen.
As of now, the team’s safety position is still up in the air and the battle for the No. 2 corner job remains up for grabs. But it does seem that the returning Ahkello Witherspoon is the favorite for the role.
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Veteran Richard Sherman will return hopefully better than ever after another year removed from his devastating Achilles injury. But Witherspoon will undoubtedly be feeling increased pressure after another up-and-down campaign.
The Colorado product struggled again in 2018 receiving a 39.8 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, among the worst among of all corners in the league. And now with added competition, the job isn’t going to be handed to Witherspoon.
His main competition will be free-agent signing Jason Verrett who, when healthy, has been among the best corners in the league. Unfortunately for the former Los Angeles Chargers standout, Verrett has missed 55 of 80 possible games throughout his career.
But if Verrett could stay healthy and outperform Witherspoon, that might just be enough for the 49ers to finally give up on the 2017 third-round pick.
This year will be Witherspoon’s last chance to prove that he should be a building block of the secondary going forward. Witherspoon’s seat will be red hot this summer.