San Francisco 49ers cornerback Déommodore Lenoir is a rising star. And this week, the 49ers treated him as such, rewarding Lenoir with a five-year, $92 million extension. The 2021 fifth-round selection will now be paid like one of the best cornerbacks in the league, and deservedly so. He played like one of the best.

After starting just two games as a rookie, Lenoir became a starter in 2022 and has continued to improve each season. This year, Lenoir has two interceptions, six passes defended and a forced fumble. He also made 53 tackles and became known as a physical player who wasn’t afraid to get involved to stop the run.

Friday, head coach Kyle Shanahan sitting down with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Greg Papa to chat about Lenoir and the team. “He has the confidence to protect anyone,” Shanahan told Papa. “I remember with Mooney (Charvarius district) being out, he was texting me leading up to Thursday’s game (week 6), asking if he could follow DK (Metcalf) everywhere. He sends me videos of every time he babysat it. He’s just a guy who wants to take on any challenge and loves playing football.”

Lenoir does not lack confidence, and that has not been the case since entering the league. Even as a rookie, when he posted a video on social media of him shutting down a receiver in practice. The problem with releasing the video for everyone to see is that the 49ers were part of the offseason program where they are not allowed to be as physical as Lenior was on the play. The 49ers were disciplined by the league for this game.

General manager John Lynch was a guest on KNBR radio this week and said: “It’s not really normal that we extend guys during the year. We tried that in training camp. Really convinced of the player you think about everything he does for He plays at the nickel position, where it gets tough and you’re involved in carries, and then he comes out and really excels at the corner position, which is a tough position to play. playing in this league confident, and he got better. every year since he’s been here. He’s really what we want in our players and what we covet in our players.

“I think the biggest testament to him is how happy the whole place was for him because he really deserved that fifth-round pick. He went through some tough times early on where I think There were people in the organization wondering, ‘Is he going to make it?’, but the young players are struggling. We saw great ability and we stuck with him, but more importantly, in the end, we couldn’t not put him on the field, and he just keeps getting better. . We are very lucky to have him.”

With Ward still out, Lenoir will be needed to lead the secondary against a good Seattle offense. In their last matchup, Metcalf had just three catches for 48 yards, despite being targeted 11 times.