Which first-round cornerback that the 49ers have met with best fits their defense?

Looking at what Cooper DeJean, Kool-Aid McKinstry, and Nate Wiggins bring to the table

During this draft cycle, the San Francisco 49ers have shown interest in three cornerbacks projected to be drafted in the first round: Cooper DeJean, Kool-Aid McKinstry, and Nate Wiggins.

The following one-liner from 49ers general manager John Lynch’s pre-draft press conference Monday stuck out: “You’re not always drafting for the immediate. Sometimes, it’s drafting for future needs. So we have to be cognizant of that.”

Here’s a look at the 49ers current depth chart at cornerback:

Charvarius Ward – All-Pro starter in line for a lucrative extension

Deommodore Lenoir – Overachieving former fifth-round nickel cornerback who fits the scheme, entering the final year of his contract

Isaac Yiadom – 28-year-old cornerback off a career season, but has never played more than 634 snaps in season during his six-year career

Rock Ya-Sin – On a one-year contract. He turns 28 next month and has an extensive injury history

Incomplete/not an option:

Darrell Luter Jr.
Chase Lucas
Ambry Thomas
Samuel Womack

Let’s assume the DeJean, McKinstry, and Wiggins trio are three of the 49ers’ 22 first-round grades. Outside of Mooney, none of the names above should prevent the front office from taking a cornerback on Day 1 — especially if they’re the best player available.

Athletic profile

Let’s examine each player more thoroughly to determine what they bring to a team and whether they’re worthy of being selected in the first round. First, their height, weight, speed, 40-time, vertical, and broad jump—based on historic percentiles on Mockdraftable.com among cornerbacks.

Lower body power is one of the best athletic predictors of performance. The 40, vertical, and broad jumps are all different ways to measure the speed side of the strength-speed continuum, so I used them. We don’t have agility times for any of the three cornerbacks.

DeJean is above average in five out of the six categories.

It’s worth noting that McKinstry tested shortly after doctors found a Jones fracture in his food and before he had surgery on it. Still, McKinstry’s jump numbers reflect what you see on film — a player who lacks a second gear — while Wiggins is an outlier weight-wise and might need help grabbing something off the top shelf.

Numbers lie

Comparing stats mindlessly for collegiate players will hardly tell the entire story of what the player was asked to do. Per PFF, DeJean played man coverage on 16.5 percent of his snaps in 2023. That puts him outside the top 200 cornerbacks in college who played at least 50 percent of their team’s snaps. That number speaks to what Iowa does on defense, but you are guessing if you’re projecting DeJean to perform well in man-to-man at the NFL level.

McKinstry played man 25.3 percent of the time, while Wiggins was 58.7 percent— the fourth-highest rate of any cornerback to play at least 250 snaps in college football last year.

Wiggins was targeted (28) ten more times in man coverage than McKinstry and DeJean combined, despite playing significantly fewer snaps than the two.

One player was exposed to playing isolated on an island, while the other two—through no fault of their own— had the benefit of safety help or playing with their eyes on the quarterback.

On paper, DeJean allowed only 43.5 percent of his 46 targets to be completed last season for 9.7 yards per reception. He broke up four of those passes and intercepted two.

Kool-Aid was targeted 39 times, allowing 48.7 percent of those to be completed for an average of 10.8 yards per reception, including four pass breakups but zero interceptions.

Wiggins gave up a 43.9 percent completion percentage on 41 targets for 9.8 yards, with four PBUs and two interceptions.

DeJean’s missed tackle rate was 12.2 percent, McKinstry’s was 8.1, and Wiggins was 13.3.

Sports Info Solutions has a “hand-on-ball percentage” stat for the draft. DeJean got his hand on 1.3 percent (32nd in the class) of the passes in his direction. McKinstry’s was lower at 0.7 (47th), while Wiggins came in at 2.3 percent, good for 12th in the class.

Trump trait

We can spend the next 48 hours nitpicking every potential first-round prospect. There’s a reason these players are projected to go high; they all have a “trump trait” that separates them.

DeJean, the returner, is up there with anybody to enter the draft in the previous five years. He will flip the field as a rookie punt returner, and I would not be surprised to see DeJean house one. Dynamic doesn’t do him justice for how dangerous of a returner DeJean is.

DeJean route recognition in zone coverage is a first-round trait. If it’s 3rd & 5, he knows where the sticks are, and he’s taking advantage. When he can play off coverage and stare at the quarterback, he’ll bait you into a mistake — likely from him coming off another receiver to get into the throwing lane. Watch the top of the screen:

He has a knack for being around the football and is “nosy” in a good way.

For McKinstry, it’s his technique. He doesn’t fall for a wide receiver dancing at the line of scrimmage. Kool-Aid is stubbornly patient at the line of scrimmage. Thanks to his feet and change of direction skills, he can stay in phase on any intermediate route. When there are two receivers to his side in zone coverage, McKinstry always seems to pass the route off on time or stay on top of whatever his responsibility is.

Wiggins will run the route for you. Clemson dared you to throw his way. He’s the kind of cornerback you can put on one side and not worry about the result while you put safety help on the other side of the formation. His aggressive mindset doesn’t change. Watch the top of the screen. This is on 1st & 10 with no safety help:

Wiggins maintaining this position on the majority of targets is why I believe he’ll not just succeed but excel at the next level:

Why they’re available

It’s 2024, and if you cannot tackle, you cannot play. In that Kentucky game, in the first quarter, Wiggins was isolated up the middle 1-on-1 with the running back and failed to make a tackle at the point of attack. Instead, he waited and chased the runner down, leading to an explosive run.

There was another play early in the game where the Wildcats ran a jet sweep Wiggins’ way. He was late to see it, and the wideout raced to the end zone for a score. Will he be more aggressive in the NFL? Probably. Did he make business decisions to protect himself in college? It looked that way. But you can’t have that mindset in the NFL. You also can’t hide.

McKinstry’s lack of a second gear shows up early and often. As you’d expect, he struggled against the speedy receivers from Texas. But even against a team like South Florida, when it came time to show his “burst,” McKinstry looked like an average athlete.

His technique has to be perfect in the NFL. If not, he’ll get grabby and won’t be as fortunate at the next level. I’ve also seen reps when Kool-Aid will jam the wideout with his inside hand, which leads to your hip locking and separation for the receiver.

We’ll see what the NFL wants to do with DeJean. One of the best linear athletes in the draft plays a position where change-of-direction skills are imperative. Ironically enough, speedy receivers give him issues. There are many exposures of wideouts running right past him from press coverage.

Additionally, there are dozens of examples of him in coverage where he has to change directions — whether on an in or out-breaking route —, and it takes him a split second to open up and stay in phase with the receiver.

Many are penciling DeJean inside at safety or the slot, but giving a receiver a two-way only amplifies DeJean’s issues. Check him out below in the slot at the top of the screen:

Judging a cornerback by his targets is the worst way to evaluate them. There are 50-60 coverage snaps in a game. You’re eliminating 85 percent of the plays if you do that. Above, there’s no need for DeJean to “open the gait.” He needs to stay square longer and give himself a chance. While it’s one play, I fear that would be the norm playing in the slot at the next level. The coverage instincts are not there.

Projecting to the next level

I try to avoid groupthink, where players are projected to be drafted and think about them in terms of how effective they’ll be at the next level. One is unlike the other when I watch McKinstry, DeJean, and Wiggins.

DeJean must be in a specific role to flourish at the next level. He struggled to run with receivers from a conference not known for its speed and failed to stay in a phase when asked to change direction consistently. And that’s going to get better against premium talent?

As a run defender, there was no killer instinct, and DeJean looked content being blocked or waiting back and letting somebody else make the tackle. I struggle to see what most of the draft community sees in DeJean and think he’s closer to a player you take in the third round than being the third cornerback selected.

McKinstry is a player you’d describe as “solid” or a prospect you’d trust in the NFC Championship game 1-on-1 against Josh Reynolds, but maybe not Jameson Williams or Amon-Ra St. Brown. Recovery speed is at the top of the list when projecting necessary traits. I like Kool-Aid, but he’s a CB2 at the next level.

Watch his initial reaction after forcing an incompletion in the Wiggins clip above. He immediately turns to the sideline/crowd and talks trash. It’s incredible. He’s the kind of cornerback who’ll take a receiver away for a game thanks to his coverage skills, but he also gets into their head and frustrates them.

When Wiggins gives up a reception, the ball must be pinpoint and accurate. If it’s not, he’s making a play. When I’m stacking players in this draft class, Wiggins comes out to No. 10 overall. So, to say I’m bullish on him would be an understatement. As I said on Monday, Denzel Ward, with Jalen Ramsey’s personality, is the kind of player I’m willing to be wrong about.

Here’s how I’d rank the top seven cornerbacks in this draft class:

Tier I
1) Wiggins
2) Quinyon Mitchell – Toledo
Tier II
3) TJ Tampa – Iowa State
4) Caelen Carson – Wake Forest
5) Terrion Arnold – Alabama
6) Kool-Aid
Tier III
7) DeJean

It is not a strong cornerback group this year.