The San Francisco 49ers worked out Jimmie Ward as one of the base defense cornerbacks, and naturally there are some questions about his role in 2016. Defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil was asked about Ward's work at cornerback, and he made an interesting point. He did not commit to Ward being an outside cornerback for the year, but he did say that Ward was currently one of their best 11 defensive players.
O'Neil talked about Ward's athleticism and football knowledge as reasons why he is one of the best 11. He said the team did not know what Ward is going to be at this point, but clearly they will be working him into regular snaps. He'll be out there for sub-packages, but unless some kind of nickel or dime will become their base defense, it is safe to say he will be getting some regular cornerback work.
Last week saw Tramaine Brock getting the other starting cornerback work, while Dontae Johnson came on in the nickel. There is no word yet on if we will see any sort of rotation at the cornerback positions like O'Neil mentioned with the inside linebacker position.