49er's Walt Harris Tears ACL: Singletary to Rely on Depth to Fill Need

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

After two days of organized team activities, the 49ers suffered the first injury of the season when Walt Harris suffered a torn ACL. Harris reportedly sprained his knee on Tuesday when covering wide receiver Dominique Ziegler during a training exercise.

However, today it has been revealed that Harris tore a ligament in his right knee and will miss the entire season.

Harris, a 14 year veteran who signed with San Francisco three years ago, has been a dependable starter who can make the occasional interception. Often criticized for his speed, the veteran made up for his physical limitations with his ability to read routes and his savvy instincts to break up passing plays.

With their starter injured for the season, the team may try to look at free agency to solve the new hole in their secondary. However after two months, the free agency market is very low on talent.

The only viable option to replace Walt Harris would be former Arizona Cardinal cornerback Roderick Hood. Hood, who had a great season in 2007, struggled last year and was eventually replaced by the promising rookie Dominique Rodgers Cromartie.

While many fans would be quick to demand the organization look at Hood as a free agent, the cornerback does not fit into the 49er's defensive scheme. When Hood had his great season in 2007, the Cardinals ran a 4-3 defense in which the cornerbacks only had to cover certain areas.

However, the 49ers will be running a 3-4 defense which gives cornerbacks complete responsibility of their receivers and are expected to cover them no matter where the receivers run. In fact, the Cardinals released Hood because they are also switching to the 3-4 defense.

Since Hood would not fit well within the 49er's defensive scheme, the team will have to depend on their younger players to step up this year if they want to make the playoffs.

Right now, Tarrell Brown is the next corner behind Harris on the depth chart. Brown, who will be in the league for his third year, is a young, athletic corner who made some big plays when the team converted to a 3-4 defense.

Another player who could see the field is second year player Reggie Smith. Smith was originally drafted to become a cornerback, however, he struggled to move up the depth chart and was assigned to provide competition for the free safety position this year. With the injury to Harris, Smith might have to go back to the cornerback position to provide depth for the young Tarrell Brown.

While the injury to Harris has been a blow to this young team, the shift in the depth chart will finally allow Scott McCloughan to evaluate the young talent that he has drafted in the past three years. The team can only hope that the player's lack of experience will be offset with his athleticism.

More importantly if the team wants to make a playoff push, they need to hope that the cornerbacks will be ready to face Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, and TJ Houshmandzadeh twice a year.

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