The 49ers’ trio of cornerbacks has excelled, but they now face their toughest test to date.

Ambry Thomas has been a revelation through three games.

The 49ers pass rush has received the bulk of the headlines during their three-game winning streak. Chase Young has helped unlock moving Nick Bosa around the defensive line. Bosa has five sacks and an incredible 11 quarterback hits since the bye week.

The secondary isn’t getting nearly enough credit.

If we just think in terms of production, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for the second-fewest yards of the season and the fewest completions of the season in Week 10 against the Niners.

 

The following week, Buccaneers’ quarterback Baker Mayfield had surpassed 250 passing yards in each of his previous two games while averaging north of nine yards per attempt. Against San Francisco, Baker threw for 246 yards on 5.5 yards per attempt.

Then, last week, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, who had thrown for nearly 400 yards just two weeks prior, had 18 completions for 180 yards.

The trio of Charvarius Ward, Ambry Thomas, and Deommodore Lenoir have been closer to lockdown than formidable.

Since the bye week, Ward has been targeted 24 times. He’s given up ten receptions for an average of 4.7 yards per target. If that were extrapolated for an entire season, Mooney would be in the top-5 among all cornerbacks in the NFL.

Ward has gotten his hands on six passes since then. What makes his performance even more eye-popping is that Mooney has been following the likes of DK Metcalf and Mike Evans, or even Christian Kirk at times, when they went into the slot.

But he’s not the only 49er corner making plays on the ball. Thomas has been a revelation. Ambry has been targeted 12 times since becoming a “starter.” He’s allowed seven receptions, but for an average of 3.5 yards per target.