Realistic Expectations for Ambry Thomas

Initially, he'll be the 49ers top backup cornerback. If Jason Verrett gets injured, Thomas would replace him on the outside. And if K'Waun Williams gets injured, Thomas would replace him at nickel.

Grant Cohn | May 30, 2021

Ambry Thomas is the one defensive back the 49ers drafted this year who deserves lofty expectations.

The 49ers drafted him in Round 3, he's 6'0", he runs a 4.3 and he returns kickoffs as well. He's an extremely dynamic athlete -- exactly what you're looking for a cornerback.

Initially, he'll be the 49ers top backup cornerback. If Jason Verrett gets injured, Thomas would replace him on the outside. And if K'Waun Williams gets injured, Thomas would replace him at nickel.

And Thomas has so much ability, once he fills in for an injured defensive back, he might never give up the job.

It seems the 49ers drafted Thomas to replace Verrett next year when Verrett is a free agent. In the meantime, the 49ers don't need Thomas to start, because they have Verrett and Emmanuel Moseley.

It's possible Thomas will outplay Moseley in training camp and take the veteran's job before the season starts. But the 49ers just gave Moseley a two-year extension, and he's a solid player. The 49ers know what he can do. And they know they can go to a Super Bowl with him -- he was a starter when they faced the Chiefs.

Unfortunately for Moseley, he also gave up that long catch to Tyreek Hill on third and 15, and was a primary reason the 49ers lost.

So if Thomas takes Moseley's job, good. That would mean the 49ers upgraded from serviceable to better.

But I haven't seen enough from Thomas to say with certainty he'll beat out Moseley any time soon. For now, expect Thomas to be a super backup.

Published May 30, 2021

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.