The NFL Just Told Us What It Really Thinks of Deommodore Lenoir
In a recent ranking of the top cornerbacks in the NFL conducted by Jeremy Fowler of ESPN,, Deommodore Lenoir was missing. He was not considered one of the ten best cornerbacks by scouts, executives and coaches. Lenoir was not even placed in the honorable mention category, which featured players ranked 11th through 14th.
However, he was listed as a player who got some votes. Some people in the league are high on him, but it was not enough to be in the top 14. Still, he was considered. However, there were ten other players who got votes, just like Lenoir.
While this list is not everything, it is a lot of people in the know of the NFL, so it gives us a good view on what the league thinks of Lenoir. Is somewhere between 15th and 23rd a fair ranking?
Was San Francisco 49ers CB Deommodore Lenoir Disrespected by NFL in latest ranking?
When looking at salaries, Lenoir is currently the 18th highest paid cornerback in the NFL. That does not include four players on the list who were ranked higher, but paid less due to being on their rookie contracts. So, by the end of this offseason he could be as low as the 22nd highest paid cornerback.
Over the past three years, he had an Approximate Value of 19. That would put him at 14th in the NFL. Most of the names ahead of him in AV are also ahead of him in this ranking. When focusing in on the past two years, he ranked 17th in AV.
So, the ranking looks to be fair from the NFL elites. Lenoir is not a top ten cornerback on the field or by pay, and that is why he is not featured on this list. He is also much closer to being 20th in a lot of these areas, which is likely why he did not end up on the honorable mention either.
Lenoir is a good, quality starting cornerback, and he is good enough to be a teams number one. However, he is not quite a high-end performer who is known to take players out of games. Perhaps under Raheem Morris, the 49ers will use the versatility of Lenoir more often and move him around more.
That could highlight his value more and push him on the list by the start of next year. Until then, this is a fair ranking.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/49ers/onsi as The NFL Just Told Us What It Really Thinks of Deommodore Lenoir.
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This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 6:00 PM.