This offseason, four 49er cornerbacks will compete for three primary cornerback jobs – left cornerback, right cornerback and slot cornerback. The competing cornerbacks are Carlos Rogers, Tarell Brown, Chris Culliver and Nnamdi Asomugha.
Which cornerback do you think will win each job, and who do you think will be the odd man out?
To educate our guesses, here are some stats, courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
Carlos Rogers
Slot (regular season only): 86.7 passer rating allowed, 437 snaps in coverage, 76 targets, 52 receptions allowed (68.4 catch rate), 443 receiving yards allowed, 2 TDs allowed, 1 interception, 5.83 yards allowed per target, 8.52 yards allowed per catch, 5.8 snaps in coverage per target, 1.01 receiving yards allowed per snap in coverage, 8.4 snaps in coverage per reception allowed.
Slot (all games, including playoffs): 89.3 passer rating, 529 snaps in coverage, 87 targets, 61 catches (70.1 catch rate), 541 receiving yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 6.22 yards per target, 8.87 yards per catch, 6.1 snaps in coverage per target, 1.02 receiving yards per snap in coverage, 8.7 snaps in coverage per catch allowed.
Left cornerback (regular season): 115.6 passer rating, 155 snaps in coverage, 21 targets, 16 catches (76.2 catch rate), 172 receiving yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 8.19 yards per target, 10.75 yards per catch, 7.4 snaps in coverage per target, 1.11 receiving yards per snap in coverage, 9.7 snaps in coverage per catch.
Left cornerback (all games): 112.05 passer rating, 179 snaps in coverage, 23 targets, 17 catches (73.9 catch rate), 187 receiving yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 8.13 yards per target, 11 yards per catch, 7.8 snaps in coverage per target, 1.04 receiving yards per snap in coverage, 10.5 snaps in coverage per catch.
Tarell Brown
Right cornerback (regular season): 73.9 passer rating, 580 snaps in coverage, 84 targets, 49 catches (58.3 catch rate), 667 receiving yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 7.94 yards per target, 13.61 yards per catch, 6.9 snaps in coverage per target, 1.15 receiving yard per snap in coverage, 11.8 snaps in coverage per catch.
Right cornerback (all games): 76.77 passer rating, 700 snaps in coverage, 107 targets, 65 catches (60.8 catch rate), 838 receiving yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs, 7.83 yards per target, 12.89 yards per catch, 6.5 snaps in coverage per target, 1.20 receiving yards per snap in coverage, 10.8 snaps in coverage per catch.
Slot (regular season, did not cover slot in playoffs): 93.8 passer rating, 34 snaps in coverage, 6 targets, 4 catches (66.7 catch rate), 52 receiving yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 8.67 yards per target, 13 yards per catch, 5.7 snaps in coverage per target, 1.53 receiving yards per snap in coverage, 8.5 snaps in coverage per catch.
Chris Culliver
Left cornerback (regular season): 71.82 passer rating, 479 snaps in coverage, 72 targets, 35 catches (48.6 catch rate), 465 receiving yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs, 6.46 yards per target, 13.29 yards per catch, 6.7 snaps in coverage per target, 0.97 receiving yards per snap in coverage, 13.7 snaps in coverage per catch.
Left cornerback (all games): 79.08 passer rating, 571 snaps in coverage, 94 targets, 49 catches (52.1 catch rate), 737 receiving yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs, 7.84 yards per target, 15.04 yards per catch, 6.1 snaps in coverage per target, 1.29 receiving yards per snap in coverage, 11.7 snaps in coverage per catch.
Slot (regular season, did not cover slot in playoffs): 131.3 passer rating, 14 snaps in coverage, 1 target, 1 catch, 6 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 14.0 snaps in coverage per target, 0.43 receiving yards per snap in coverage, 14.0 snaps in coverage per catch
Nnamdi Asomugha
Outside cornerback: 121.0 passer rating, 454 snaps in coverage, 60 targets, 39 catches (65.0 catch rate), 632 receiving yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT, 10.53 yards per target, 16.21 yards per catch, 7.6 snaps in coverage per target, 1.39 receiving yards per snap in coverage, 11.6 snaps in coverage per catch.
Slot: 112.5 passer rating, 51 snaps in coverage, 6 targets, 5 catches (83.3 catch rate), 66 receiving yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 11.0 yards per target, 13.2 yards per catch, 8.5 snaps in coverage per target, 1.29 receiving yards per snap in coverage, 10.2 snaps in coverage per catch.
What stands out to you about these numbers? A few things stand out to me:
1. Carlos Rogers was a better slot cornerback than outside cornerback last season.
2. Chris Culliver didn’t give up catches very often (he had a terrific 52.1 catch rate at LCB), but he when did get beat, he gave up big yardage – more than 15 yards per catch including the postseason.
3. Culliver might be the 49ers’ best option in the slot this upcoming season. He played just 14 snaps in the slot last season – a small sample size, but he only gave up one catch. It was a six-yard touchdown, and that’s not good, but getting targeted once every 14 snaps in coverage is excellent. In comparison, Rogers got targeted once every 6.1 snaps he was covering the slot.
4. Nnamdi Asomugha might be a better outside cornerback than Rogers right now. Asomugha gave up a lower catch rate, was targeted less frequently and gave up catches less frequently than Rogers last season. On the other hand, Rogers gave up fewer yards per target and fewer yards per catch and fewer touchdowns.
5. Asomugha did not play well last season.
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