SANTA CLARA – Perrish Cox has been getting beaten on the outside pretty consistently so far in training camp, and today he was getting beaten on the inside during team drills by Kyle Williams.
Cox’s main value to the team is his ability to play the “nickel back” – the cornerback who covers the slot receiver. The Niners have one very good nickel back – Carlos Rogers – but they need a second one to cover a second slot receiver when a team like the Packers attacks them with four-wide-receiver formations.
Starting cornerback Tarell Brown has been playing some nickel back this offseason, and he’s much better at it than Cox. In fact, Brown has looked terrific at nickel back so far. If and when the Packers line up four wide receivers against the Niners defense in Week 1, I expect Rogers and Brown to line up inside over the slot receivers, and Culliver and Brock to line up over the outside receivers.
Cox seems to be the fifth cornerback on the depth chart right now.
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