All 49ers

49ers Pick Texas Cornerback Jahdae Barron in New Mock Draft

Barron is similar to Jimmie Ward.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns defensive back Jahdae Barron (7) against the Clemson Tigers during the CFP National playoff first round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Dec 21, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns defensive back Jahdae Barron (7) against the Clemson Tigers during the CFP National playoff first round at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

Most draft experts expect the 49ers to pick an offensive lineman or a defensive lineman with the 11th pick this year.

Not Sports Illustrated draft analyst Bryan Fischer. He projects the 49ers to take Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron in Round 1.

"The Thorpe Award winner solidified himself as an early pick after running a 4.3 40-yard dash at the combine and is good enough to start right away for a 49ers secondary that needs upgrades," writes Fischer. "Texas teammate Kelvin Banks Jr. is tempting with Trent Williams entering Year 15, but it’s hard to find corners this polished."

It's also hard to find good offensive linemen, and the 49ers don't have many of those.

But Barron is an outstanding prospect. He seems like he could cover wide receivers, slot receivers and tight ends depending on the team he's facing. He would give the 49ers three lockdown cornerbacks along with Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green, which would allow the defense to play man-to-man coverage with eight in the box to stop the run.

Barron is similar to Houston Texans safety Jimmie Ward, who was the 49ers' first-round pick in 2014. Under Kyle Shanahan and Robert Saleh, Ward became arguably the best defensive back in the league in terms of covering tight ends. Now that Saleh is back in his second stint as the 49ers defensive coordinator, it stands to reason that he would want another player similar to Ward.

I still think the 49ers will address the trenches with their first pick. They almost have to.

Read more

Download and follow The Cohn Zohn Podcast

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