The 49ers have a vacancy at nickel cornerback.
With K’Waun Williams now in Denver, the 49ers will have a new face in the slot corner position since Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch took over. Williams was by far the most underrated player on the 49ers defense. Being able to cover well, come up in run support and excel as a blitzer is elite. Now the 49ers must find someone who can replace that, or at least someone able enough to make an impact.
One player who is in the running at the position is Darqueze Dennard.
The 49ers signed Dennard back on Mar. 22. He appeared at the end of the season as an emergency fill-in and actually played quite well. Enough was shown from him for the 49ers to want him back and now with Williams gone, he can compete to be his replacement.
So will Dennard be the 49ers’ starting nickel corner?
I think there is a decent chance he will be. If he can keep riding the trust and comfortability wave that he’s on with the coaches, then they will give him the start. He just needs to keep playing well and stay healthy. Right now, he has DeMeco Ryans liking what he sees from him, which is always a bonus to getting the starting job.
“Darqueze is a veteran who's done a great job for us,” said Ryans. “He steps in, he does a really good job of communicating out there. He's where he needs to be. And the biggest thing I like about Darqueze is he does a really great job of teaching the younger guys. Darqueze has seen a lot of football, played in a lot of different schemes, so with him having that experience and that knowledge, he does a really good job of just putting his arm around the younger guys and teaching them. Saying it in a way, sometimes a player can get it from another player better than he does from a coach, so it's been great having Darqueze out there.”
While Ryans gives some praise to Dennard, you don’t get the sense that he’s indicating he can or will be the starter. But it is not like he did that so much for Talanoa Hufanga either. How I envision Dennard earning the starting role is if none of the young players stand out enough to make the coaches give them the job. If none of the rookies or second-year players can do it, then they’ll roll with the veteran player out of comfort and caution.
If that is the case, it doesn’t mean Dennard will be the indefinite starter.
Perhaps the younger players start to really rise in the ranks or Dennard proves he’s not a season-long starter, which I don’t believe he is. I would rather roll with one of the younger players and take a chance, but this is the 49ers we are talking about here. They won’t hesitate to give the veteran the nod over the younger player if he's not comfortable enough.
So while I see a scenario, a decent one, in which Dennard gets the starting role, I would not expect him to hold onto it for long.
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