49ers Need to Elevate Emmanuel Moseley as the Starter
After starting the first three games of the season red hot, cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon has cooled down.
He went from locking up wide receivers to getting abused in coverage. All the opposition see's out there when they face the 49ers' defense is burnt toast in the form of Witherspoon. Sunday nights primetime matchup for the NFC west against the Seattle Seahawks was almost a blown win.
Witherspoon was a big part of why the Seahawks were able to get back in the matchup. He allowed two of Seattle's three touchdowns to be converted. Worst of all, he let rookie receiver D.K. Metcalf gash him in coverage which ended up being one of the two scores he allowed. It wasn't until the 49ers pulled the plug on Witherspoon to insert Emmanuel Moseley. These string of poor performances from Witherspoon can no longer be tolerated.
The 49ers need to elevate Emmanuel Moseley as the starter.
They have given Witherspoon more than enough time to sure himself up. Now that the playoffs have started, the limited breathing space the 49ers had allotted to him is up. San Francisco cannot afford to put Witherspoon out there in a divisional game and risk losing the game like they did in Seattle. Whatever is bugging him is clearly impacting his performance. He does not look confident out there by any means.
One of the signs is by the amount of cushion he has been giving his receivers. It shows that he is unsure of himself to play tighter coverage. Not to mention that his reactions seem a bit stiff. Witherspoon hesitates at times when a receiver makes his jab cut. Look no further than the touchdown he gave up against Metcalf. He gets caught at the top of Metcalf's route and just completely allows him to blow past him. Under no circumstances should that touchdown have occurred.
This is the same guy that put the clamps on Mike Evans in week one when he wasn't on Richard Sherman. Yet, he is allowing a slower and much less polished route-runner beat him. Over and over again Russell Wilson wanted to pick on Witherspoon because he knew he was a liability in coverage. Comeback routes was the main way that Seattle wanted to attack him and it worked every single time. The fact that Moseley needed to step in and be the answer reveals all you need to know about the 49ers' confidence in Witherspoon.
Entering week 17, both Kyle Shanahan and Robert Saleh made it clear that they still had faith in Witherspoon. They acknowledged that he had been enduring a rough patch, but that they were confident he would rebound. It was the right approach initially because they were trying to instill confidence back into him. But for another consecutive game, Witherspoon did not live up to expectations. It is now playoff football, meaning there is no room for mistakes at this juncture.
At least with Moseley, he has had consistent performances all season long. Of course, he did not look that great when he filled in for Witherspoon against the Seahawks. However, those were his first snaps of the game. He was essentially thrown into the fire, so considering the pressurized situation he actually played well. With a week off and time to prepare, Moseley will surely play strong when the divisional game comes around.
The 49ers need to have sound coverage from their cornerbacks since their pass rush has not been getting to the quarterback in the last four games. It is why Witherspoon has become so exposed and it makes you wonder if that wasn't the real cause for his elite performance to start the season. Whatever the case may be, starting Emmanuel Moseley is the best course of action for the San Francisco 49ers. He's the better player who is in form and does not show signs of lacking in confidence.
Playoff games hardly have any margin for error. With Moseley out there, the 49ers do not have to worry nearly as much if Witherspoon were the starter.
