Covering all the bases

<p>SANTA CLARA — The competition at cornerback for the 49ers seems to be exactly what the team hopes opposing receivers are not this year: wide open.</p><p>Among the 10 men listed at corner on the current roster, only starter Shawntae Spencer and perhaps fourth-year player Tarell Brown would seem to be locks to make the team.</p><p>Nate Clements was a huge signing just three years ago and is still a probable starter, but he was benched at one point last season and is due to make $6 million in 2010. Karl Paymah, Keith Smith and Will James are solid if unspectacular veterans. Seventh-round draft pick Phillip Adams has potential but little polish, while undrafted free agents LeRoy Vann, Patrick Stoudamire and Tramaine Brock are true long shots.</p><p>Making the situation even more intriguing is the continuing of absence of Spencer and Clements, who have skipped all voluntary workouts thus far in favor of working out with personal trainers.</p><p>“Would we like them here? Yes,” defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said last month. “Does it help the other guys behind them build reps and see things over and over? Yes. So, for those younger guys and those second-string guys that are playing behind Nate and Shawntae, it's great for them because they're getting the reps.”</p><p>Paymah and Brown have been running with the first team through most of the offseason. When Brown came up limping after getting beaten by Michael Crabtree on Tuesday morning, it was Adams who took his place at left cornerback.</p><p>Paymah, a spot starter during four seasons with the Broncos and another with the Vikings, believes he has a great opportunity in San Francisco. After player “quarters” coverage at Washington State and a lot of man at Denver, he had to adapt to a Cover 2 scheme in Minnesota. That background prepared him well for Manusky's scheme, which employs elements of all of them, and the extra repetitions are exactly what he needed.</p><p>“Obviously I'm the new guy, and the hardest part is just catching on and just feeling comfortable out there,” Paymah said. “You gotta know what you're doing to go out there and play fast, and that's really helping me as far as the multiple reps. Just bonding with the guys, playing off each other — that's all big right now.”</p><p>Everyone seems to have his own challenge. James, still recuperating from a fractured pelvic bone, hasn't played in 11-on-11 team period yet. Guys like Vann find it hard to get noticed, even with Spencer and Clements gone. Vann does have an advantage; he also is in the mix for kick returns. But he wants the 49ers to know he can cover, too.</p><p>“Yes, sir. Because I feel like since I came from a black college, and most everybody comes from the big D-I schools and whatnot, they're not gonna look at my ability to play cornerback,” said Vann, who went to Florida A&M. “But if you could play, you could play, and I know I could play cornerback.”</p><p>Paymah has a much different background, but he can relate.</p><p>“You want to be the best one out there,” he said. “And you can't shoot for nickel, you can't shoot for dime, you can't sell yourself short. I mean, if you got the ability, you got the talent, you gotta compete against the best of 'em. ... My plan is to go out there and be the best.”</p><h3>EXTRA POINTS</h3> <p>-- QB Alex Smith overthrew a few receivers, but he fired several touchdown passes, including two strikes to TE Vernon Davis and one to TE Delanie Walker.</p><p>-- The 49ers signed T Matt Kopa, an undrafted rookie from Stanford who had been trying to get a sixth year of college eligibility. Kopa dropped his appeal and was on the field in Santa Clara on Tuesday morning to observe practice. He signed later in the day after passing a physical.</p><p>-- Offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye said he expects Nate Davis to compete with David Carr for the backup QB job at training camp this summer.</p><p>-- RB Anthony Dixon's younger brother Deshun, a senior at Terry High School in Mississippi, went to the Tampa Bay Rays in the 10th round of the 2010 MLB draft.</p><p>-- The team is off today, but resumes voluntary practices Thursday and Friday.</p><p>For more on the 49ers, go to Instant 49ers at blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers. You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.</p>