While Kyle Shanahan said Malik Mustapha would be “eased back in” after opening his practice window, the second-year safety made it clear he is ready to get back to his punishing best.
“I didn’t get surgery on my brain, so it’s the same thing,” Mustapha told reporters on Wednesday. “I’m just trying to pick up where I left off, and keep the main thing the main thing.
“I’m getting back to the swing of things, and once I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go.”
It remains to be seen how Robert Saleh will work Mustapha
back into the frame.
On last year’s evidence, Mustapha is the best safety the 49ers have, bringing a blend of downhill thump and pass coverage ability that allows him to play the deep middle and excel at the second level and close to the line of scrimmage.
Able to play the slot effectively, he is the archetype for the modern safety, and the problem of how he is worked back in is an excellent one to have given the play the 49ers safeties have produced this season.
While a high number of big plays have been credited against rookie safety Marques Sigle, he has consistently put himself in a position to make plays in those situations with sticky coverage, while his speed to the ball and ability to trigger downhill was key to the 49ers’ decisive stop in Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams.
Jason Pinnock has held down the starting role next to Sigle in Mustapha’s absence. Though he hasn’t jumped off the screen in the same manner as Sigle, Pinnock has provided value with his versatility, leadership and pre-snap communication, while San Francisco has found a way to get Ji’Ayir Brown involved regularly, utilizing him as an extra blitzer and in the ‘big nickel’ role, in which he coverage upside and ability to play the box as a run defender can come to the fore.
The addition of Mustapha to that group gives Robert Saleh an embarrassment of riches at safety, providing him with another malleable chess piece at the position.
Used in a hybrid role as part of Wake Forest’s ‘panther’ package on third down, Mustapha played in a multitude of roles in college, operating at every level of the defense. Wake Forest made the most of his talents playing down in the box and close to the line of scrimmage while also leaning on his strength in coverage, and the 49ers did the same last season.
Mustapha played 517 snaps as the free safety as a rookie, but he also played 181 in the box and 45 in the slot along with a handful on the defensive line.
That level of flexibility should be extremely appealing to Saleh. Beyond being an upgrade on Pinnock at deep safety, Mustapha gives him a player who can operate as a de-facto linebacker in the box and minimize the drop-off in pass defense when the 49ers play base, and one whose varied skill set allows him to be an asset in slot coverage and as a blitzer on the kind of pressure packages that are becoming increasingly important part of Saleh’s gameplan in the absence of Nick Bosa.
Safeties with the coverage upside Mustapha brings when playing deep and when working from the slot have significantly increased in their influence with rise of F tight end and the power slot. The return of Mustapha means the 49ers now have several healthy players who can excel in that regard. Mustapha, though, is the pick of the bunch with an intimidating style of play that leaps off the tape whenever he gets the opportunity to work downhill.
Mustapha is a smart, flexible and violent football player who should fit the Saleh defense to a tee. If having too many good safeties is a problem, it’s one Saleh will gladly accept to welcome a player with his ceiling back to the fold.
