The San Francisco 49ers got a boost to their secondary last weekend when second-year safety Malik Mustapha made his season debut after beginning the year on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.
Mustapha had been recovering from a torn ACL that he sustained in Week 18 of last season, but was able to come back around the expected timeline and was immediately thrown into the fire last week, playing 39.6 percent of the defensive snaps.
While Mustapha will continue to ramp up, he’s a clear starter at safety for the 49ers, where the team has rotated quite a bit this year. The other position opposite to him is not so clear.
San Francisco began the year starting Jason Pinnock and Marques Sigle at safety. However, Ji’Ayir Brown began to see some work at the big nickel spot and then cracked the safety rotation this past weekend as a starter alongside Sigle.
Now, with Mustapha back in the fold, how will the 49ers address that No. 2 safety spot?
“Ji’Ayir has been consistent. To be clear, that spot’s not dead,” Robert Saleh said about the second safety job. “The one thing I’ll say is that Malik [Mustapha] is starting. As we continue to build up his rep count to get him to where he needs to be from a conditioning standpoint, although he’s conditioned. But, as Malik transitions into getting every single snap, that is the one common denominator in that he’ll be starting.
“On the other side, Tig (Ji’Ayir Brown) has done a really nice job throughout training camp and throughout the first three weeks of the season, giving himself the ability to step in there and earn the trust of his teammates and his coaches. Now he’s got an opportunity to shut the door at that free safety spot. It’s nothing against [Marques] Sigle or Pinnock. They’ve both done a really nice job. It’s just giving him an opportunity, and eventually, as we develop that group, we’ll find the right combination of guys to compete well.”
When starting, Pinnock had really struggled in coverage, which is why he was benched in Week 6. But, Sigle has also gone through his bumps and bruises as a starter, which is expected for a Day 3 rookie.
Brown saw his highest snap count in Week 6, playing 100 percent of the defensive snaps. That was a major uptick from the 17.6 percent he saw in Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams. Before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game, Brown’s biggest snap share this season was in Week 3, when he played 37.9 percent of the defensive snaps, aligning more in the big nickel role.
Pinnock, on the other hand, didn’t play at all last Sunday after seeing 100 percent of the defensive snaps through the first five weeks of the season. With him only playing two special teams snaps as well, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the 49ers look to trade him at the deadline to a safety-needy team, freeing open a roster spot.
Sigle, on the other hand, split reps with Mustapha. He saw 60.4 percent of the defensive snaps. That could change, however, as Mustapha gets up to speed with his gameday conditioning.
At the moment, it looks like Brown is the leader in the clubhouse for the second safety spot. We’ll see how the 49ers align up on Sunday when they host the Atlanta Falcons for Sunday Night Football.
