The 49ers had a digital pre-draft visit with one of the draft’s top cornerback prospects. Mississippi State’s Cameron Dantzler told Justin Melo of the Draft Wire that San Francisco was among a slew of teams he met with via video chat.
Dantzler was recently in the social media spotlight after a video of an independent pre-draft workout showed him running a 4.38 in the 40-yard dash. That was after he clocked a disappointing 4.64 at the NFL combine. There were some questions about the reliability of his own workout video and whether he actually clocked in at a 4.38.
The reality is Dantzler is a good athlete on tape and probably runs in between those 4.64 and 4.38 times. He has terrific size at 6-2, 188 pounds and uses his length well to contest throws. In three years with the Bulldogs, Dantzler intercepted five balls and notched 20 pass breakups.
There was some first-round love for Dantzler early in the draft process, but it’s hard to imagine the 49ers aiming for him as early as No. 31. If they trade down from that spot though and wind up somewhere in the middle of the second round, Dantzler is the type of corner who could step in and compete for a starting job right away. If he doesn’t win a starting job, he has a lot of tools to work with and eventually earn that role beyond his rookie season.
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