Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
PFF projects Tramaine Brock, Jimmie Ward as starting cornerbacks
Jul 13, 2016 at 11:51 AM
•
The San Francisco 49ers secondary garnered the
highest positional ranking yet from advanced statistics site
Pro Football Focus. The group came in 17th among the NFL's 32 teams.
One of the big offseason question marks has been who would start opposite
Tramaine Brock at cornerback. Defensive back
Jimmie Ward has been getting a lot of practice time opposite Brock and is a solid candidate to grab that spot. In fact, Ward recently ranked fourth on beat writer Chris Biderman's
list of the team's top 25 players.
Matt Claassen of
Pro Football Focus projects Brock and Ward to be the team's two starters at cornerback with
Chris Davis playing in the slot role. While Davis achieved a 75.6 overall grade in 2015 from the site, it was just through 17 snaps and the cornerback went unranked.
Ward achieved the team's highest
Pro Football Focus grade among cornerbacks in 2015. He had a 78.2 overall grade last season. Ward had 57 tackles, an interception, a sack, and six passes defended in 749 total snaps last season and was the 35th ranked cornerback according to
Pro Football Focus. Brock came in one spot lower at 36 with a 77.7 overall grade, but had a larger pool of snaps being in on 1,094 plays.
It's no surprise that Claassen listed
Antoine Bethea and
Eric Reid as the starters at safety. Other "names to know" included
S Jaquiski Tartt,
CB Dontae Johnson,
CB Will Redmond,
CB Rashard Robinson, and
CB Kenneth Acker. "Tartt allowed 1.18 yards per snap in coverage, the highest average for a safety in 2015," says Claassen. However, Johnson ranked as the team's third best corner in 2015 with a 71.1 overall grade over a span of just 380 defensive plays.
"Much of the 49ers' roster struggled last year, but the secondary fared well for the most part," explained Claassen. "Recent draft picks Ward and Reid have performed above-average, even though they may have not yet shown enough to live up to their first-round status. Brock didn't come close to his career-year of 2013, but had a solid season after missing most of the 2014 season. Having Bethea back will solidify the safety position and give Tartt more time to develop after being forced into the lineup last year."
Previous to this, the 49ers'
quarterbacks ranked 31st out of 32 teams. Their
defensive front-seven ranked 23rd, the
offensive line ranked 26th, the group of
running backs ranked 18th, and the
wide receivers ranked second-to-last in the NFL at number 31.
The 49ers kick off training camp on July 30 and open the 2016 season against the Los Angeles Rams on September 12 at Levi's Stadium.
Facebook Comments
More San Francisco 49ers News
Why PFF warns not to overreact to 49ers QB Brock Purdy's early success
Pro Football Focus named Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs as the NFL's best in its recent ranking of starting quarterbacks. It's hard to argue with that choice. Behind Mahomes are Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Brock Purdy finished last season as the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback. He came in when the team lost its second starting quarterback of the season. Trey Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury during Week 2. Then, Jimmy Garoppolo broke a foot during Week 13. That thrust Purdy into the starting lineup, and he guided the 49ers to eight consecutive wins, all the way to the NFC Championship Game.
Unfortunately, Purdy became the 49ers' third starting quarterback to suffer a serious injury, a
PFF ranks Trent Williams as the NFL's best tackle
Ranking season has kicked off over at Pro Football Focus. Brock Purdy recently came in at No. 23 in the analytics site's ranking of NFL quarterbacks. Now, Pro Football Focus has turned its attention to offensive tackles. While there are some question marks along the San Francisco 49ers' offensive line, left tackle is not one of them.
Trent Williams has earned a grade of 91.9 or higher in each of his three seasons with the 49ers, including a career-high and Pro Football Focus all-time best mark of 97.8 in 2021. The 34-year-old has been the highest-graded tackle in each season
This PFF stat should have QBs worried about facing the 49ers
By Rohan Chakravarthi
May 28
The San Francisco 49ers have compiled one of the NFL's best rosters, hence their overall success over the last four seasons, which includes a Super Bowl appearance and three trips to the NFC Championship.
A big portion of that success? The developed talent along the defensive line, which has been the core of the team ever since head coach Kyle Shanahan took over in 2017.
After a down, but still fairly strong year from the defensive line in 2022, San Francisco added defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who had 11 sacks on the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022, to bolster the interior alongside Arik Armstead.
Hargrave joins defensive end Nick Bosa, who led the team with 18.5 sacks en route to winning the Defensive Player of the Year award in
Eagles' Lane Johnson agrees matchup vs. 49ers would have been "a different game" with healthy Brock Purdy
Lance Johnson fought through injuries to play in the Philadelphia Eagles' three playoff games, including the Super Bowl. The offensive lineman suffered a torn adductor injury late in the regular season but held off on undergoing surgery to participate in the Eagles' playoff run.
Johnson was in pain throughout the run, which included an NFC Championship Game win over the San Francisco 49ers. However, the two-time All-Pro wasn't the only one fighting through an injury. Both of the 49ers' quarterbacks suffered injuries in the game. First, Brock Purdy left after tearing the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow. Then, he was forced to return to the field after his backup, Josh Johnson, suffered a concussion.
Purdy couldn't throw the football, though,
