All 49ers

Jakob Robinson is the 49ers' UDFA to Watch According to PFF

During the 49ers' rookie minicamp last week, Robinson lined up at left cornerback during 7 on 7 drills.
Grant Cohn|
Nov 23, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Brigham Young Cougars cornerback Jakob Robinson (0) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Nov 23, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Brigham Young Cougars cornerback Jakob Robinson (0) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers desperately need a rookie to step up and make a significant impact this year.

They lost nine starting players during free agency and signed zero replacements. So they're counting on up to six rookies starting on defense alone. If one of those starters is an undrafted free agent, so be it.

Pro Football Focus thinks the 49ers' best undrafted free agent his year is BYU cornerback Jakob Robinson.

"The 49ers are set to field one of the shakiest cornerback groups on paper in the NFL, so perhaps the team has high hopes for Robinson, their lone UDFA signing at cornerback," writes PFF's Ben Cooper.

"Robinson earned a 65.0-plus PFF coverage grade in all but one of his four seasons at BYU, and he didn’t allow a passer rating above 100.0 in coverage in any of those campaigns. In the Cougars’ bowl-game win over Colorado, he limited LaJohntay Wester and Jimmy Horn Jr. to two catches for 3 yards. And Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan, the No. 8 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, didn’t secure a catch when matched up with Robinson in BYU’s Week 7 win."

During the 49ers' rookie minicamp last week, Robinson lined up at left cornerback during 7 on 7 drills. He's athletically similar to Deommodore Lenoir, the 49ers' No. 1 cornerback Robinson just needs to put on muscle. He currently weighs just 181 pounds, which is light for an NFL defensive back. The 49ers want their cornerbacks to be ferocious in run support and Robinson simply doesn't have the frame for that just yet. But he's an intriguing project who could start one day.

Read more

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Share on XFollow grantcohn
Home/News