Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
Videos are auto-populated by an affiliate. This site has no control over the videos that appear above.
San Francisco 49ers rookie cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon has a big challenge ahead of him. On Sunday, his task will be to stop Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, whose 1,084 yards receiving this season ranks third in the NFL behind just Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons. Although, Jones added to his total on Thursday night, which allowed him to temporarily surpass Hopkins with the extra game.
On Friday morning, 49ers general manager John Lynch joined KNBR and briefly discussed the third-round selection in April's draft.
"Going against a DeAndre Hopkins, it's a great challenge," Lynch said on
the "Murph & Mac" show. "He seems excited for it, and hopefully, he feels that same way after Sunday."
What made Witherspoon such an exciting selection for the 49ers in the draft? Lynch went on to share the attributes that made the young cornerback such an attractive prospect.
"It's rare that you can find a 6-foot-3 cornerback that you think has really good -- usually, you're giving (up) something if you say, 'Ok, that's the prototype. We want that length,'" Lynch said. "But you're going to give something in the quickness getting in and out of breaks because those guys just typically don't possess both those qualities. You have one or the other. But when you get a guy who has that, you say, 'Wow, this could be something special.'
RELATED John Lynch on Jimmy Garoppolo: 'I could have had five rings if I had a guy like that'
"Now, there were some other things in terms of just like football awareness. He was late to football and then the physicality that we saw snapshots of at Colorado, but we didn't see on a consistent basis. But to watch him improve on that aspect of the game, his football knowledge, to start to have a sense and an awareness of, 'Ok, they're trips away, and this guy's in a wide split. I'm probably going to get a slant.' He's starting to figure out things like that.
"The most exciting thing for me to watch about Ahkello Witherspoon? The way he goes to work each and every day. Kyle (Shanahan) calls it 'deliberate practice.' He's not just out there killing time. He's out there trying to get better, and it matters to this kid.
"I think when you have talent, and you mix that with that mindset where you're out there deliberately practicing every day to be the best player you can be, I think there's going to be improvement. And that's what we've seen from him, and we just want to continue to see that, continue to go in that direction."
You can
listen to the entire interview with Lynch below.
Through his final two years with Colorado, Witherspoon had a total of 59 tackles, 25 passes defensed and three interceptions. He has appeared in eight games this season and started the past five, replacing Rashard Robinson, who the 49ers traded on October 31 following Witherspoon's first career start.
Witherspoon has been targeted 23 times during his five starts with the 49ers and allowed 12 receptions for 204 yards and three touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus. However, he has no missed tackles against the pass and just one against the run.
San Francisco 49ers GM John Lynch and Offensive Line coach Chris Foerster were in Seattle on Saturday scouting prospects of the Washington Huskies. While Washington has multiple talented draft prospects, the fact that Foerster was accompanying Lynch is notable considering Washington has two offensive linemen who are getting a lot of attention—Troy Fautanu and Roger Rosengarten.
Per source, John Lynch, Chris Foerster looked at several Washington draft prospects today. Huskies are loaded with draft talent, including …WR: Rome Odunze, Ja'Lynn Polk, Jalen McMillanOL: Troy Fautanu, Roger RosengartenEDGE:
With the 2024 NFL Draft less than a week away, ESPN contributors have highlighted some prospects who have seen their draft stock rise throughout the evaluation process. Jordan Reid and Matt Miller pinpointed players who could hear their names called at the end of the first round.
Interestingly, both of the prospects identified by Reid and Miller play in the trenches but on different sides of the ball. The San Francisco 49ers are widely expected to draft an offensive lineman with their first selection—No. 31 overall. The team mostly ignored the group in free agency. However, it wouldn't surprise many people if the
The San Francisco 49ers are likely hoping that a top offensive lineman drops to them at No. 31 in the first round of this month's draft. Fans would like to see the team add someone to compete with Colton McKivitz for the right tackle spot and potentially take over for Trent Williams when the future Hall of Famer decides to retire.
Having two studs bookending the offensive line would go a long way in protecting franchise quarterback Brock Purdy. While tackle may be the first-round target, depending on how the first 30 selections play out, San Francisco might have to trade up to get a genuinely impactful
The San Francisco 49ers announced the signing of wide receiver Trent Taylor to a one-year deal, reuniting with the team's former fifth-round draft pick out of Louisiana Tech.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report that the 49ers were discussing a potential reunion with Taylor. The receiver was part of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch's first draft class in 2017 and spent his first four NFL seasons with the team.
The #49ers are talking with free-agent slot receiver/return man
