The San Francisco 49ers addressed one significant offseason need with the signing of free agency cornerback Charvarius Ward. It was the team's biggest offseason addition and will probably remain its most notable move.
It wasn't enough to ease the minds at Pro Football Focus, though. The analytics site still lists cornerback as one of the 49ers' biggest needs, along with the interior offensive line. Now, free agency technically isn't over yet. The team can still add some veteran talent. However, most of the splashy moves have been made, and OverTheCap lists the 49ers as having about $7.5 million in salary-cap space.
Analyst Anthony Treash looked at the biggest offseason needs for all 32 teams after the first wave of free agency. Why does he still list cornerback as a need for the 49ers? It's not a lack of faith in Ward. It has to do with the player expected to line up across from him and another who may be on his way out the door.
"Emmanuel Moseley, who earned a 69.1 PFF grade in 2021, is a serviceable but unreliable starter opposite Ward," wrote Treash. "Along with that, their slot cornerback since 2017 — K'Waun Williams — is still a free agent."
Moseley's coverage grade of 68.0 last season tied his career-high from 2019. However, he owned an overall grade of 42.8 and a coverage grade of 35.5 in the NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams. Both were his second-lowest marks of the season (36.9 overall, 30.6 coverage in Week 8 at Chicago).
Rookie Ambry Thomas owned an overall grade of 75.7 and a coverage grade of 76.5 after Week 15, including the playoffs. While Thomas came on strong during the final stretch of the season and the playoffs, the team could still address the cornerback position in the 2022 NFL Draft.
San Francisco might not be done yet tweaking its defensive backfield.
