Time to grade every 49ers roster addition from the 2018 offseason. Today, we look at rookie cornerback Tarvarius Moore.
The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up the 2018 season and they have begun their work to prepare for 2019 free agency and the NFL draft. The coaches and scouts are back from a week in Mobile, Alabama at the Senior Bowl, but there is plenty more to be done as they get ready to build on a disappointing 2018 campaign. We’ll be breaking down plenty of what that means, but in the meantime, we wanted to take a look back at the season that was for the 49ers.
Jimmy Garoppolo’s injury sent things south, but there is plenty still to assess. We are going to take a look at every notable addition and provide a forum for grading how that signing, trade, or draft pick worked out.
Tarvarius Moore, cornerback
How acquired: Drafted in the third round (95th overall)
The 49ers have spent two years overhauling their cornerback depth chart, and we still don’t quite know where things stand moving forward. Most of last season saw the 49ers starting Richard Sherman and Ahkello Witherspoon, but by season’s end, injury had moved Moore into the starting lineup.
Moore was a third round pick the team was looking to convert from college safety to NFL cornerback. It’s not a simple process, and in fact, most of Moore’s rookie season was spent on special teams. He became a core special teamer until the team needed him to replace an injury Witherspoon in Week 15.
The 49ers installed him at right cornerback, opposite Richard Sherman. He was shaky those three weeks, but we saw signs of a guy who is turning his physical traits into cornerback skills. He heads into the offseason competing with Witherspoon for a starting spot — pending any additions in free agency and the draft.
25 third round picks ranked ahead of Moore in Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value for the class, but factoring in the position change from college, he’s clearly a guy whose value will best be assessed in year two. Of course, that makes it all the more interesting that he’s competing with another former third round pick in Witherspoon. You can never have enough cornerbacks, but the loser of this competition drops to fourth cornerback off the bench after one of the nickel backs, K’Waun Williams or D.J. Reed. If Moore wins out, maybe we see a Witherspoon trade?
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