Take a cornerback early on wait on receiver?

NBC Sports’ Matt Maiocco was on KNBR Thursday morning talking about the San Francisco 49ers and their upcoming draft. Maiocco identified the team’s needs as a wide receiver, defensive line, offensive line, and cornerback. He cited that seven rookies aren’t going to make the Niners as they have a strong roster, so accumulating a bunch of picks doesn’t make much sense.

Maiocco was asked what he would do if he were the 49ers general manager. Matt said, “the beauty of the draft is there are a ton of wide receivers. If you’re dealing with a position where the strength of the draft is on Day 2, maybe Day 3, get a cornerback now. What I like about selecting a cornerback at 13 is Richard Sherman is entering the final year of his contract. It’s been 16 years since the 49ers drafted a cornerback in the first two rounds of the draft. If you have an opportunity to take a guy that’s young and talented, why not let him spend a year with Sherman?”

Maiocco talked about Sherman’s leadership and how great of a communicator he is. Matt doesn’t think either of the top four offensive tackles will be available at 13 and said to take a cornerback early, and get your wide receiver with the next pick. The Athletic’s Matt Barrows was on KNBR Thursday talking about his draft crush Denzel Mims. Maiocco said he’d take Florida’s cornerback C.J. Henderson at 13, and if he’s not available, he will take Clemson’s cornerback A.J. Terrell in a potential trade back scenario.

More Maiocco: Considering where they [49ers] are and what they [49ers] need at wide receiver, they don’t need one guy stepping in. They just need another option. Deebo Samuel is a strong player, and Kendrick Bourne is a good player. They need guys from last year that were injured to get healthy. They need a player that does a few things really well that Kyle Shanahan can hone in on. This year the rookies won’t be on the field because there is no offseason program. It’s imperative early on for coaches to maximize what rookies do well.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen echoed that sentiment, saying the consensus opinion among coaches and GMs is that “this will be a veteran type of year,” because it’ll be tough for rookies without an offseason program. Henderson is a skilled player but did not play well in 2019. Many people bring up his tackling, but that wasn’t the only part of his game that took a step back last year. Terrell plays small and, in my opinion, is not an upgrade from Emmanuel Moseley or worth a first-round pick. I do understand why you wait on a receiver in this draft, but Henderson at 13 or Terrell in the 20s is a touch rich for my liking. What do you think?