Deommodore Lenoir is the 49ers' Most Overlooked Player
Every time the 49ers win, they bring the usual suspects to the post-game podium.
Deommodore Lenoir is not one of the usual suspects.
You know who they are: George Kittle, Kyle Juszczyk, Nick Bosa, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Fred Warner and Brock Purdy. Those are the spokesmen for the team. They speak for everyone in the locker room and get all the media attention.
Then there are the 49ers players who almost never go to the podium despite how well they play every week. We're talking Javon Hargrave, Dre Greenlaw, Charvarius Ward, Tashaun Gipson, Aaron Banks and Deommodore Lenoir.
Perhaps those players prefer not to talk. But Lenoir doesn't seem shy. After the 49ers beat down the Cowboys on Sunday, a reporter asked him if that win proved the 49ers are the best team in the NFL
"For sure," Lenoir said. "When you look at that game and look at other teams, it's not even close. I even try to give people the benefit of the doubt but it's not close."
A player has to be legitimately good to talk like that, and Lenoir is legitimately good. Through five games this season, he has allowed zero touchdown passes and has given up a passer rating of just 76.4 when targeted. Those are elite numbers. And yet, nobody in the national media seems to care or even know who he is.
Lenoir has established himself as a good starting cornerback, and he's only 24-years-old. The 49ers will need to give him a contract extension at the end of the season.
They should bring him to the podium every once in a while, too. He has earned the recognition.
