Hello, and welcome back to the forty nine Ers First and ten podcast, ten minutes of the most up to date forty nine Ers news First thing in the morning, I'm your host Brianna McDonald. Joining me is forty nine Ers team reporter Lindsey Palaries. Before we get into today's roster breakdown, we have some initial news. The forty nine Ers announced yesterday that wide receiver Ricky Piersol has been placed on the non football injury list. This update comes
in just nine days ahead of training camp. Now, in this episode, we are continuing our roster breakdown series leading into training camp, and today we're taking a closer look at the forty nine Ers cornerbacks group. In our last episode, we provided some updates on the defensive line, so be sure to check that out if you haven't already. But as we get into the secondary, our CB room has gone through quite a few changes and addition over the
off season. Lindsay, let's start with this year's draft and second round draft pick, Rinardo Green. Tell us more about the Niners' newest cornerback. What did you learn about him in your brief chat with him, and what does he bring to the team this year?
Yeah, So I wanted to first highlight that with that first wave of free agent additions, the forty nine ers really zeroed in on their defensive front, and in that same way, that second wave of additions was very much focused on the secondary, particularly at the cornerback position. Ronardo Green was a second round pick out of Florida State, sixty fourth overall, and this is somebody that the forty nine ers are really excited about.
He's a physical corner.
Over the course of his five year collegiate career, he's played in a lot of different positions, so he's got some experience at nickelback, playing on the outside, and then also even some reps at safety. So definitely a guy that has shown he can move all around the secondary. I think he definitely flashed during the offseason workout program. That's something the Niners are really excited about to see someone.
With a really great work ethic and just being.
A young player really just hit the ground running in his professional career. When I was able to speak to him one on one right after he was drafted, like minutes after the call with the ownership and Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, he really talked about how he thought his instincts, his football instincts and his athleticism were his
greatest strength. He's happy to bring that to the team, and I think he's definitely an option for the forty nine ers at nickelback, which is where they definitely need help for that third cornerback spot. Giamad Or Lendor was filling in at nickelback for a lot of last season. So this, along with many other editions in the quarterback room which we'll get to give them some depth and also just some options at that spot.
Now, Rinardo Green isn't the only new faces joining the group this year. The forty nine ers are also welcoming three experienced free agents in Chase Lucas from the Detroit Lions, Isaac Yadam from the New Orleans Saints, and Rocky Scene from the Baltimore Ravens. Lindsey tell us more about why the forty nine ers decided to pick up three experienced cornerbacks and free agency this offseason.
Yeah, I think it was a little bit of what I mentioned when we were talking about Green just a second ago, is that the forty nine Ers just needed some depth at cornerback right that number three spot. Definitely up for grabs. We saw Ambry Thomas playing off the outside last season along with Tarvarius Ward, and then you
had Diamadore Lenore playing at nickelback. I think when you add Isaac Yadam rok Ya scene Chase Lucas, you've got some veteran options that can be there to play in that play outside and then put Diamadour Lenhur in that nickelback position, or if you have Ronaldo Green you could plug him at the nickelback position. It just gives you options entering twenty twenty four, and that's something that the forty nine ers definitely needed.
Also with those three, you have some veteran experience.
I think with Chase Lucas, he was mostly a special teams guy for the Detroit Lions, but again he is listed as a cornerback and has time in the league, so still valuable experience that he brings. Isaac Yadham, I think is a very interesting addition because his best season
was twenty twenty three. He really took off for the Saints after filling in for an injured player midway through the season, and he only gave up three touchdowns on five hundred and fifteen snaps very impressive, and even though only had eight starts last year, fourteen PBUs that's tied for seventh in the league. Very very impressive. And then
Rokyastein was dealing with a knee injury last year. But again, just a veteran player that was with the Ravens that had a very strong defense and a good addition for the forty nine Ers.
Now that we've gotten to know a little bit more about our new guys, let's cover our returners. Which players will be back in the bay for the forty nine ers defense this year.
Yep. So in terms of cornerbacks, we do have a lot of younger returners. So we've got Durrell Ludor Junior entering his second season, Samuel Willmack the third who is a twenty twenty one draft pick, Ambry Thomas entering his fourth season, Keimon Hall in his sixth season, and Charvarius Ward, who is a true CB one entering his seventh season. I would consider him the veteran leader of that group.
But then, like I mentioned, you've also got Diamador Lenore who played a lot of nickelback in twenty twenty four. He's entering his fourth season, and I feel like, really since the end of his sophomore season, it's just been a complete upward trajectory for Lenore. Really physical player, just super enthusiastic.
Passion out on the field.
So I think, you know, between him and Charvarius Ward, you've got your top two CBS.
Nice Now, Traviius Ward plays a crucial role in the forty nine or secondary. He's established himself as a cornerstone of our defense. He led the league and passes defended last season and earned Pro Bowl and AP second team All Pro recognition. As we head into this new twenty twenty four season, Pro Football Focus recognized Traverius Ward as one of the top three cornerbacks in the entire NFL. There analyst John Kesco wrote that War deserves more praise
as one of the league's best corners. So, Lindsay, I'm just curious what your take is.
Yeah, I mean, I really think he was such a lockdown corner for the forty nine ers in twenty twenty three. I think, you know, obviously great displays, all the interceptions he had last year, but I always think of how he locked down DK metcalf in that Thanksgiving game against the Seahawks, and I feel like there's like no real better example of a true CB one that you want covering one of the best wide receivers in the league and absolutely like allowing him to not do very much in that game.
And it was just a string of games like that.
For Tarvarius Ward in twenty twenty three, and you know, I think he's someone that the younger guys really want to learn from. Ernardo Green in that very first you know, post draft interview I did with him, He's like, I watch cutups of Charvarius Ward. So I think when you've got young guys that are enthusiastic about learning from a tried and too true veteran like that, I mean, only good is going to come of that.
Yeah, definitely. Now, as we quickly approach training camp, what are the key storylines or position battles that you're watching closely within the cornerback group.
Yeah, so I think it's for that that third cornerback position. Right, you had diamidor Lenore, who can play both at nickelback and outside really take one for the team and play at that nickelback position in twenty twenty three. So I think ideally if you get somebody like Bernardo Green that ends up being ready to play that nickelback position, then you can put diamidor Lenore on the outside, or you find an Isaac Gaham who can play on the outside,
plug in diamidor Lenore again at the nickelback position. I think it just depends playing on the strengths of the new talent that you've got in the building, seeing where the pieces fit. So not necessarily a position battle, but more of like where can we have the most successful fits.
Yeah, now, going into camp again, are there any injury concerns or recovery updates from players that fans should be aware of heading into training camp.
Yeah. We talked a little bit about Charvarius Ward, who is dealing with a core muscle injury.
He had surgery in the off season for it.
From everything we've heard directly from him over the course of the off season workout program, he feels like he's going to be on track to be ready for training camp. Obviously, with injuries, you never like want to feel so stuck on timelines because things happen right it's just the natural recovery process. But barring any setbacks, it sounds like he will be ready for training camp.
That's obviously what you.
Want, but we're just a few days out from training camp, which is crazy.
So we'll have more.
Clarity on that as soon as players report, which is also coming up Tuesday, very very soon, so we'll hear more from them. I think that's probably the most significant injury to the cornerback room that I would keep an eye on.
All right, thank you, Lindsey, but faithful that will do it for today. Look out for more forty nine Ers roster breakdown episodes leading up to training camp on first and ten. Follow us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts to be in the know on all of the latest official forty nine ers news. Also turn on the notifications for any breaking news, move the chains updates, and thank you for tuning in.