49ers work out Tre Herndon, Danny Johnson, and Chandon Sullivan

On Monday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t report any new injuries outside of Deebo Samuel. Aaron Wilson reported that the Niners worked out a trio of defensive backs, which means we could be getting some injury news, or the team might not be happy with the performances at the position for two weeks of the season.

Based on the workouts, it might be at slot cornerback. One of the players the team worked out was Tre Herndon, who played 424 of his 482 snaps at slot cornerback for the New York Giants in 2023. The season prior, Herndon played 300 snaps in the slot for the Giants.

Danny Johnson was another player who spent most of his time in the slot. The 5’9, 190-pound cornerback was an undrafted free agent in 2018. He played 209 of his 336 snaps in the slot for the Washington Commanders in 2021. In 2022, 202 of his 292 snaps were in the slot. And 178 of Johnson’s 208 defensive snaps last year were in the slot.

The final player who worked out was Chandon Sullivan. Sullivan played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023. He has the most experience, playing 676 snaps last year if you include special teams. Of those, 366 were in the slot. He started for the Steelers in 2022, playing over 1,000 snaps, 886 of which came in the slot. If the Niners go by experience, Sullivan might be the answer. He was targeted 95 times in 2022, allowing 78.9 percent of his targets to be complete for 11.4 yards per target.