San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and his staff will coach the South squad during the Reese's Senior Bowl on January 26 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Jon Gruden and his Oakland Raiders staff will coach the North squad.
Jim Nagy, the Executive Director of Reese's Senior Bowl, announced the defensive backs for both squads on Tuesday. You can view the players who will be on hand below with the 49ers' squad (South) listed first.
| Squad | Defensive backs | School |
| South | Johnathan Abram | Mississippi State |
| South | Mike Edwards | Kentucky |
| South | Jaquan Johnson | Miami |
| South | Isaiah Johnson | Houston |
| South | Lonnie Johnson Jr. | Kentucky |
| South | Sheldrick Redwine | Miami (FL) |
| South | Juan Thornhill | Virginia |
| South | Darius West | Kentucky |
| South | Khari Willis | Michigan State |
| South | Rock Ya-Sin | Temple |
| North | Nasir Adderley | Delaware |
| North | Corey Ballentine | Washburn |
| North | Marquise Blair | Utah |
| North | Kris Boyd | Texas |
| North | Jordan Brown | South Dakota State |
| North | Will Harris | Boston College |
| North | Amani Oruwariye | Penn State |
| North | Darnell Savage | Maryland |
| North | Marvell Tell III | USC |
The @seniorbowl South DBs are a junkyard dog (Abram), savvy slot (Edwards), high IQ leader (Jaquan), prototype press CB (Isaiah), ascending former juco (Lonnie Jr.), upside pick (Redwine), ball-hawk (Thornhill), top tester (West), strong tackler (Willis), and buzz guy (Ya-Sin). pic.twitter.com/kMLl9NVINF
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) January 15, 2019
The @seniorbowl North DBs are a fast high-end athlete (Adderley), small-school sleeper (Ballentine), urgent alley-runner (Blair), physical specimen (Boyd), smooth-mover (Brown), TE matchup guy (Harris), sudden baller (Savage), and a rangy built interchangeable FS/SS (Tell). pic.twitter.com/BMjYFZxMsU
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) January 15, 2019
Hopes were high for the 49ers starting cornerbacks in 2018. The team acquired Richard Sherman via free agency and had high hopes for second-year player Ahkello Witherspoon.
Sherman spent most of last season dealing with and recovering from a calf injury, and that was after an offseason of rehab following an Achilles injury in 2017. The three-time first-team All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowl selection figures to be healthy and stronger in 2019.
Witherspoon struggled this past season but showed some improvement toward the end of the year. The jury is still out on the young cornerback, and 2019 will be a good indication of where his NFL career is headed.
Witherspoon will have some competition for the starting spot across from Sherman. Tarvarius Moore started the final two games of this past season after Witherspoon suffered a sprained posterior cruciate ligament (PCL).
"We're extremely excited about Tarvarius," general manager John Lynch said on December 31. "He got an opportunity to go play, and I think he showed some really good things. But I think that's going to be great competition between he and Ahkello."
The 49ers went through several safeties in 2018 as injuries ravaged the position group.
Adrian Colbert, Jaquiski Tartt, and Jimmie Ward all ended up on injured reserve, leaving San Francisco with Antone Exum Jr. and Marcell Harris as its starting safeties by the end of the season.
Colbert went through a sophomore slump after showing a great deal of promise during his rookie campaign. The former seventh-round pick saw his Pro Football Focus grade drop from 73.1 in 2017 to 31.7 in 2018.
Tartt's season ended on injured reserve for the second consecutive year. He has played in just 17 games over the past two seasons. Each of Ward's past three seasons has also ended on injured reserve.