San Francisco 49ers: 5 Free agents still available before training camp
By Joe Kipp
4. Darqueze Dennard, CB
The 49ers have one of the NFL’s premier corners in Richard Sherman. Even at 32 years old, Sherman has shown in his two years in San Francisco that he still has the skill-set to go toe to toe with the NFL’s best receivers. The problem for the Niners is that there isn’t much depth behind Sherman.
Ahkello Witherspoon and Emmanuel Moseley were both pedestrian last season as starters at right cornerback. K’Waun Williams is one of the NFL’s better slot corners, but the 49ers need a reliable boundary corner to put on the opposite side of Sherman.
The 49ers could shore up their secondary by signing Darqueze Dennard, formerly of the Bengals. Drafted by Cincy in the first round in 2015, Dennard hasn’t necessarily lived up to his draft pedigree. That said, he’s been a valuable role player for the Bengals for the past six seasons and would be an upgrade for San Fran on the outside.
The biggest knock against Dennard is his lack of interceptions. In 77 games, he’s snatched just three picks and recorded just 22 passes defensed. Dennard played the majority of his snaps in the slot in 2019, however, which saw an increase in his productivity. This infers that he can play any both in the slot or on the boundary. He’s also an effective run defender.