The 49ers entered the season dealing with an incomplete nickel cornerback battle. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks indicated the plan was to shuffle the team’s defensive backs based on matchups. That plan is now scrapped.
Initially it looked like the 49ers would play CB Isaiah Oliver in the slot against bigger slot receivers. Smaller slot receivers would see Deommodore Lenoir, who would kick inside and be replaced on the outside by CB Ambry Thomas.
That was the case the first week with Thomas playing 54 percent of the snaps and Oliver playing 52 percent. In Week 2 it was mostly Oliver after Thomas struggled out of the gate. Thomas missed Week 3 with a knee injury, and then his snap percentage was 30 percent and 25 percent in Weeks 4 and 5, respectively.
In Week 6 he played just four snaps on defense, which signaled the end of his time as a rotational CB. Wilks confirmed as much Friday.
“For us, right now, yes,” Wilks said in a press conference. “I think we have the numbers and particularly the guys that we brought in, [CB] Anthony Brown and those guys that can give us flexibility on the outside as well as he can play inside as well. But I think Oliver has definitely positioned himself inside at the nickel position.”
Oliver hasn’t played less than 62 percent of the team’s defensive snaps since Week 1. He’s performed well in the slot after struggling throughout the preseason, and Thomas’ stints playing on the outside weren’t going well. The 2021 third-round pick is allowing a 75 percent completion rate and a 94.3 passer rating on 16 targets with one pass breakup on the outside.
Thomas is a good depth option, it’s just become clear that the duo of Lenoir and Charvarius Ward outside with Oliver as the nickel is San Francisco’s most effective trio of CBs. The rotation was likely to stop eventually, and now Wilks has confirmed it’s done after six weeks.
