The 49ers secondary suddenly has a ton of intrigue.
It looked going into training camp that Charvarius Ward and Deommodore Lenoir would be the two outside cornerbacks, with newly-signed CB Isaiah Oliver settling in at the nickel corner spot. The position battles in that case would all be relegated to players down the depth chart just trying to make the roster.
That all got thrown into flux Sunday when Oliver started the 49ers preseason opener and didn’t play particularly well.
One player who did stand out in the 49ers secondary in that preseason contest was CB Ambry Thomas, who had a tackle for loss and a couple of pass breakups. According to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle, Thomas on Tuesday was one of the 49ers’ outside CBs while Lenoir slid to the nickel where he played last season before bumping outside when Emmanuel Moseley went down.
Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks spoke about Thomas to open his press conference after Tuesday’s practice.
“Ambry I thought did a tremendous job on some of things that we saw on tape, particularly also during the game coming up strong on that fourth down play. And then having a PBU,” Wilks said.
He also complimented second-year CB Samuel Womack III, who won the nickel CB job out of camp last year before surrendering it to Lenoir in Week 3.
“Same thing with Sammy Womack,” Wilks said. “I think a critical situation on the toss. We pride ourselves at the corner position coming up making tackles and it was great to see those guys doing that.”
It’s clear the 49ers like what talent they have at corner, and now the competition in the slot could wind up changing how the club lines up with their outside CBs.
There’s a chance Lenoir and Ward are the starting outside corners in base packages with Thomas coming in and Lenoir moving to the slot in nickel. Given how often teams have three-plus corners on the field though the difference is probably negligible over the course of a full season.
The good news about the glut of competition for the 49ers is that secondary depth has been a problem for them the last couple years. Being in a spot where they have to sit starting-caliber players would only help an already strong defensive unit.
