San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Corner Green joins ‘elite’ Pearsall as new addition
S.F. shores up secondary with its selection in second round
With an eye toward 2025, the San Francisco 49ers used their secondround pick in the NFL draft on Friday to grab Florida State cornerback Renardo Green.
Green (6-foot, 186 pounds) was a secondteam All-ACC pick last season when he tied for the conference lead in pass breakups (14).
Green, who ran the 40yard dash in 4.49 seconds at the NFL combine, played two seasons at nickel cornerback before he transitioned outside, where he projects to play in the NFL. A two-year starter, he had 101 tackles, seven behind the line of scrimmage, with 19 pass breakups and an interception in his final two seasons. Quarterbacks completed 54.2% passes when targeting him in his career.
The 49ers hadn’t picked a cornerback as high as the second round since they selected Shawntae Spencer No. 58 overall in 2004. The 49ers grabbed Green with their
top three cornerbacks — AllPro Charvarius Ward, Deommodore Lenoir and new addition Isaac Yiadom — in the final years of their contracts.
General manager John Lynch said before the draft that the 49ers didn’t have many pressing roster needs after a 12-5 season that ended with a Super Bowl loss. But he noted they needed to use this year’s draft to grab prospects who could move into prominent roles in 2025.
“We need some players to come out of this draft,” Lynch said, “because they’re going to be playing next year and into the future.”
Green, 23, said he spoke extensively with 49ers defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks during the pre-draft process. Green said he thought the 49ers were attracted to his versatility — he also played safety in college — and competitiveness. Green boosted his draft stock with his performance in the Seminoles’ 45-24 win over LSU in the 2023 season opener. He often went up against wideout Malik Nabers, who was selected No. 6 overall by the New York Giants on Thursday, and helped limit him to six catches for 67 yards, Nabers’ secondlowest yardage total last season.
Bullocks “said he wouldn’t want to fight me,” Green said. “I asked him why. He said, ‘Because it feels like you’ll fight until you die.’ I said, ‘Yeah, it’s supposed to be like that. That’s what a dawg is. You ever seen a dog fight?’ … (The 49ers) are getting a tenacious football player. An instinctive, athletic football player. And a versatile, smart football player.”