The San Francisco 49ers are currently wrapping up their joint practice with the Houston Texans, but there is one notable tidbit from Thursday’s session. In his practice report, Matt Barrows wrote that rookie cornerback Will Redmond got some work with the first team defense at nickel back.
The team drafted Redmond with the intention of making him their nickel back, but the timing was a question mark due to his torn ACL. Redmond spent OTAs and minicamp rehabbing his knee, but he has been an active participant in training camp, avoiding the NFI list at the start. He now is competing with Chris Davis and Keith Reaser for the starting nickel role.
The team’s communication department-issued depth chart had Davis and Reaser ahead of Redmond for the time being. My guess is all three will see a lot of nickel reps, and they very well could rotate in and out of the first team defense. I don’t expect to see a lot of the first team defense this weekend, but in the second and third preseason games, we could see quite a bit of it. And given the speed of the 49ers offense under Chip Kelly, even this weekend could end up being a snap count greater than normal. I imagine this competition will get plenty of time to flesh out over the next three weeks.