Former NFL CB Tarell Brown: Richard Sherman Will Need Help Without Earl Thomas

Former San Francisco 49ers cornerback Tarell Brown predicted Tuesday new Niners corner Richard Sherman is going to need more support in the secondary after recovering from an Achilles injury.

Brown, who also made stops with the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots during a nine-year NFL career, discussed the 49ers' marquee free-agent addition from the Seattle Seahawks on Twitter.

"Sherman will need safety help this year. No Earl [Thomas] over the top," he wrote, adding the hashtags "injuries are hell" and "lower body our best investment."

Last week, the 30-year-old Stanford product said he was back to "100 percent" when he arrived to training camp.

"You can look at it like, 'Damn, woe is me, why did this happen to me and oh, my God, why did I have to go through this?' or you can look at it as 'Man, I needed another great challenge and I needed another mountain to climb, and I look forward to climbing that mountain,'" Sherman told reporters.

The four-time Pro Bowl selection tallied 35 combined tackles, seven passes defended and two interceptions in nine games for the Seahawks last season before suffering the Achilles injury in November. Pro Football Focus graded him as the league's 27th-best corner for 2017.

While Sherman had Thomas, a three-time first-team All-Pro, over the top since he debuted with the Seahawks in 2011, Adrian Colbert will now fill that role as San Francisco's starting free safety.

If Brown is right and Sherman isn't able to find peak form after the setback, Colbert's development in his second season will be critical to the Niners' defensive improvement after the unit ranked 24th in yards allowed last year.