When training camp begins, the rookie with the most attention will be wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. The rookie who should be commanding the most attention, however, is cornerback Renardo Green.
The preseason is almost upon long-suffering San Francisco 49ers fans desperate for a taste of football, with training camp kicking off on July 16 for the rookies at the SAP Performance Facility in Santa Clara and veterans reporting on July 23.
With this being the first camp in a long time with a first-round rookie on the field, there's going to inevitably be a lot of attention on rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. That's understandable, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going to be following every practice and preseason game to see how he goes (especially until the Brandon Aiyuk situation is over with).But the rookie whom fans arguably should be most interested in is cornerback Renardo Green, the intriguing cornerback who has a shot to start right away and solve a big problem on the defensive side of the ball that the team has struggled to consistently fill for years.
Counting the nickel corner, the 49ers have four of the five starting positions locked up for 2024. Cornerback Charvarius Ward has been well worth the money since coming over from the Kansas City Chiefs, while Deommodore Lenoir has developed into a strong nickel corner. In addition, the team has a talented young safety duo of Talanoa Hufanga and Ji'Ayir Brown as well.
But the question is who will man the boundary opposite Ward? There's not many promising options, but Green is the outlier. A talented and athletic corner who starred in the rookie minicamp (and yes, the team will need him to flash more than that to become a starter in the league), how Green handles both training camp and preseason is absolutely vital if he's to become a true gem in the secondary and help turn a longtime 49ers weakness into a strength.
With training camp now only weeks away, it'll be intriguing to see if Green does finally become the answer to one of the few holes in the roster that the team is looking to fix as it looks to go one better in 2024 and win that elusive sixth Super Bowl.
