All 49ers

Grading the 49ers Defensive Backs at the Bye Week

For the first time in years, the defensive backfield is the strength of the 49ers defense.

Grant Cohn

Oct 20, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir (2) flexes before the start of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Oct 20, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir (2) flexes before the start of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
In this story:

The 49ers have the week off, so let's grade them position by position based solely on what they've done this season. So far, we've graded the quarterback, the running backs, the wide receivers, the tight ends, the offensive linemen, the defensive linemen and the linebackers.

POSITION: Defensive back

NAMES: Deommodore Lenoir, Charvarius Ward, Renardo Green, Isaac Yiadom, Ji'Ayir Brown, Malik Mustapha, George Odum, Talanoa Hufanga.

GRADE: A

COMMENTS: Deommodore Lenoir has emerged as one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL this season. Last year he showed that he's a playmaker when the ball is in the air. This year he has shown that he can shut down some of the NFL's most talented wide receivers such as CeeDee Lamb and Marvin Harrison Jr. Lenoir will be a free agent this offseason and he might become too expensive for the 49ers to re-sign.

Charvarius Ward is still an elite cornerback too, but he has been playing through a heavy heart this season as his daughter just passed away a few days ago.

Rookie cornerback Renardo Green has forced his way onto the field because he's so good. He's big, he can cover and he can tackle. He looks like he'll be a starter for years to come.

At safety, the 49ers have two good young players in Ji'Ayir Brown and Malik Mustapha. Plus they have former All Pro Talanoa Hufanga who has missed most of the season due to injuries, but he still could return.

For the first time in years, the defensive backfield is the strength of the 49ers defense.

Download and follow The Best 49ers Podcast.

Published |Modified
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Home/News