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Renardo Green Will Play Nickelback for the 49ers

Is this smart?

Grant Cohn

Feb 29, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Florida State defensive back Renardo Green (DB11) talks to the
Feb 29, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Florida State defensive back Renardo Green (DB11) talks to the / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
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SANTA CLARA -- When the 49ers drafted defensive back Renardo Green in Round 2 this year, it was unclear what position he would play.

He said he can play any position in the secondary, but he mostly played outside cornerback at Florida State, although he also played inside as the nickelback a few years ago. On Friday, new defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen spoke to the media for the first time in his new position and revealed that he plans to play Green at nickelback.

"We'll bring him along starting him out inside and see what he can do in there," Sorensen said. "I think that's something that if you can retain, you want to learn it earlier. We know what Deommodore Lenoir can do. Also Samuel Womack has done a really good job there these last couple weeks. (Green) will get some work outside too, because versatility (is important). We only have so many guys that dress on game day. You always have to have enough guys who can fill in if you have injuries."

With all due respect to Sorensen, I disagree with his philosophy. I think a better way to develop a cornerback is to play him at cornerback initially so he can gain confidence, considering that's the position he played the most in college and it's the position that got him drafted. Then when he establishes himself as an NFL quality corner, then move him inside. That's how the 49ers developed Deommodore Lenoir, and now he can play inside and outside at a high level.

We'll see how Green develops.

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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.