With The First Pick
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49ers: Top 5 team needs to address in 2020 NFL Draft

By Nicholas McGee

SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 19: Joe Staley #74 of the San Francisco 49ers fires the team up on the field prior to the game against the Green Bay Packers at Levi's Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Santa Clara, California. The 49ers defeated the Packers 37-20. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 19: Joe Staley #74 of the San Francisco 49ers fires the team up on the field prior to the game against the Green Bay Packers at Levi's Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Santa Clara, California. The 49ers defeated the Packers 37-20. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 13: Cornerback Kristian Fulton #1 of the LSU Tigers during the College Football Playoff National Championship game against the Clemson Tigers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. LSU defeated Clemson 42 to 25. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 13: Cornerback Kristian Fulton #1 of the LSU Tigers during the College Football Playoff National Championship game against the Clemson Tigers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. LSU defeated Clemson 42 to 25. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /

3. Cornerback

The 49ers would be forgiven for feeling confident in their starting options at cornerback going into the 2020 campaign.

Richard Sherman remains one of the better cornerbacks in the league, while Emmanuel Moseley impressed for long periods of 2019 and finally took the other starting role on the boundary from Ahkello Witherspoon during the Niners’ postseason run.

However, 2020 marks the final year of Sherman’s contract. Now 32, it is reasonable to wonder whether he will receive another deal from the Niners, though his performances have certainly merited one.

With Moseley also set to enter free agency in 2021, it would make sense for the 49ers to find a long-term answer on the boundary in the draft and they are well-placed to draft one of Florida’s C.J. Henderson and LSU’s Kristian Fulton.

Fulton, despite a stellar career with the Tigers, could even be on the board when the Niners select for a second time in round with pick No. 31, though the consensus has long since pointed to a trade down from that spot for San Francisco.

Quality depth in the secondary is an issue for the 49ers, there are few better ways to address that problem than by adding a premier corner prospect like Henderson or Fulton.