If a certain Clemson cornerback falls to No. 31, that’d be difficult to pass up.
The San Francisco 49ers signed former New Orleans Saints cornerback Isaac Yiadom to a one-year contract worth up to $3 million. Yiadom’s signing bonus was $1.375 million, which doesn’t scream “starter” money.
Yiadom’s numbers with the Saints were surprisingly impressive. On his first targeted pass of the season, he batted a pass into the arms of his teammate, resulting in an interception. Yiadom played like a cornerback who should’ve gotten paid more in free agency.
The 49ers benefitted from a saturated market of second-tier cornerbacks. That wasn’t the case a couple of offseasons ago. Charvarius Ward has proved to be money well spent. In 2023, he was good enough to neutralize half of the field. The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t even bother targeting him in the Super Bowl.
Yiadom is 28 and entering his seventh season. More importantly, he’s 190 pounds, and last season was the first time he had played more than 13 games since entering the league in 2018. Between injuries and the wear and tear from playing in the league, it’s unlikely that Yiadom is the long-term answer across from Mooney.
Deommodore Lenoir’s contract is up after this season, making cornerback a year away from being a pressing need.
The John Lynch-Kyle Shanahan regime has yet to invest in the secondary with a first—or second-round pick. Lenoir and Talanoa Hufanga were fifth-rounders, and Ji’Ayir Brown and Ambry Thomas were third-rounders. The 49ers seem content with the value they get in the secondary from the late third through the fifth round.
Could this be the year that changes? It’s not far-fetched to think we’ll see a run on offensive linemen during the first round of the NFL Draft. If by pick No. 31, the Niners are staring at CB2 or OL6, you have to take the best player on the board.
If a situation arises where Clemson’s Nate Wiggins is there, that’d be a difficult proposition to turn down. NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks mocked Wiggins to the Niners in his recent mock draft:
The 49ers’ glaring need on the island makes Wiggins an ideal candidate for this spot. The slender speedster displays the footwork and instincts to flourish in the team’s zone-based scheme.
In this scenario, nine offensive and six defensive linemen were selected before the Niners pick.
Without pretending to know anything about his background, Wiggins has a superstar skill set at cornerback. He measured 6-foot-1 but only weighed 173 pounds with 30 1/2-inch arms. Calling Wiggins slender is being polite.
But he has rare recovery speed — he ran a 4.28 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine — and does not allow separation between himself and the receiver. Some will say that his lack of size shows up in run support, but he has the necessary recklessness you need at cornerback.
He rarely lost a 50/50 ball, so saying Wiggins lacks play strength is pure projection. I believe he’s one of the ten best players in the draft and has a chance to be a top-10 cornerback in the NFL sooner rather than later.
It’s also optimistic that Wiggins will fall to the end of the first round. Looking at the talent at cornerback in this draft, if the 49ers don’t take one in the first round, it’s unlikely that they’ll find a player who can help them on Day 2.
One of the greatest challenges of the NFL Draft is weighing the drop-off between positions. After the first day, the cornerbacks are primarily nickel corners. Another aspect of the draft is the positional roulette. Cornerbacks could go in the early teens or late 20s.
Arm length may prevent the 49ers from drafting Wiggins and another prospect I like on Day 2—Wake Forest’s Caelen Carson. Additionally, Lenoir’s arm length was in the 22nd percentile. Those are generally players you avoid starting on the outside. Ward and Yiadom are both in the mid-to upper 70th percentiles in arm length.
Nick Sorensen has coached nickels and the secondary during his career, so we’ll see what physical traits he values based on who the 49ers select in the NFL Draft. If one thing is clear, you have to have that “dog” mentality — meaning you’re going to do whatever it takes to win every rep. Wiggins and Carson have that and would be the two best options in the first and second rounds of the NFL Draft.
Projecting where a player will be selected is impossible. Quarterbacks are being mocked in the top 15, and I would’ve never thought that in a million years, they would be taken that early. So, it may make sense for us to familiarize ourselves with names — and who the 49ers are hosting on pre-draft visits.
Not only for the player, but to give us an idea of when they’re thinking about drafting that position. The 49ers have met with Washington State’s Chau Smith-Wade and Rutgers’ Max Melton — two cornerbacks who Sports Info Solutions has at 156 and 157 on their big board or fifth-round prospects. In ESPN’s seven-round mock draft, Melton went at the end of the third round, while Smith-Wade went in the sixth.
John Lynch said the goal this offseason and one of the reasons they wanted to bring in Brandon Staley was to evolve. Investing in a cornerback with one of the first two draft picks would support Lynch’s case.
In a copycat league, the Kansas City Chiefs just used a first-round pick on a cornerback in 2022, and he was one of the primary reasons that the team won a Super Bowl in 2023.
But Staley’s brief history with the Los Angeles Chargers would suggest that the 49ers are leaning toward drafting offensive linemen rather than cornerbacks—Staley used two of his three first-round picks on an offensive lineman, while the only Day 2 investment he made at cornerback was once in the second round.
Signing Yiadom gives the 49ers the freedom to take the best player early in the draft. Relying on a rookie cornerback takes patience and a plan. The Chiefs had one for Trent McDuffie. A talent like Wiggins could be the missing piece to an already talent-heavy defense.
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