© Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
SANTA CLARA — On Wednesday afternoon, 50 area prospects performed drills in front of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and members of the coaching staff in Levi’s Stadium. Mixed among the scrum was former Stanford cornerback Quenton Meeks.
For Meeks, this has been a long time coming. He grew up under NFL influence, as his father, Ron, played and coached in the league for more than two decades.
When Ron was the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, where he won a Super Bowl in 2007, a young Meeks learned firsthand from the game’s best. Wide receiver Reggie Wayne taught him how to position his hands for a catch. Dominic Rhodes taught Meeks how to juke.
On Wednesday, he put those skills to the test, with the 2018 NFL Draft looming eight days away.
“I was just in the mindset that I just wanted to show the coaches what I can do,” Meeks said.
The 49ers are looking to add another big, physical cornerback to complement mainstays Ahkello Withersoon and Richard Sherman. In many regards, Meeks mirrors Sherman, whom he has admired and modeled his game after, through sights and sounds.
Meeks is 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, while Sherman stands at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds. They produced similar scores in the 20-yard shuttle and three-cone drills prior to the draft.
Like Sherman, Meeks oozes confidence, asserting that he should be a first-round pick, contrary to most projections listing him in the middle rounds.
“I feel like I’m the smartest player in this draft, offensively or defensively,” Meeks said Wednesday. “I don’t think there’s anybody that studies more tape than I do. I don’t feel like there is any player in this draft that loves football more than I do— that’s been around it more than I do.”
Sound like Sherman?
Even their draft biographies are similar. Sherman, also projected as a mid-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, was knocked for his lack of explosion and stiffness. Similarly, Meeks’ so-called lack of balance and acceleration have negatively affected his draft stock.
That’s why when Meeks is asked if he compares his draft situation to Sherman’s, he smiles.
“One-thousand percent,” Meeks said. “I feel like I should be a first-rounder. I don’t think there’s any reason I am not one right now, but it doesn’t matter where you get drafted. It just matters when you get to mini-camp, you got to ball. That’s my main focus right now… One thing is for sure, when I get to rookie mini-camp, I am going to dominate, and I am preparing for that right now.”
It would be unfair to expect a player who has never sniffed an NFL game to project as a future Hall-of-Famer, which Sherman is.
But it’s easy to see why Meeks could fit in San Francisco. He fits the prototype of big, physical cornerbacks in defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s scheme.
And aside from Sherman and Witherspoon, the 49ers lack cornerback depth. Jimmie Ward has experience at the position, but he is considered more of a safety. Cornerbacks are traditionally some of the most fragile players, underscoring the importance to have several quality players at the position.
In addition to the 49ers, Meeks said he has received interest from the Falcons, Seahawks, and Chargers, all teams that run similar schemes with eight-man fronts.
But playing for the franchise right up the road from Stanford, while learning firsthand from a player he emulates, would be a ‘dream come true,’ he said.
“I would love to be a 49er,” Meeks said.