This time last year, we wondered how important safety was for the San Francisco 49ers after Talanoa Hufanga suffered a torn ACL in November 2023. Rookie Ji’Ayir Brown filled in admirably for Hufanga, but the Niners entered 2024 with only three safeties under contract after needing to start Logan Ryan in the Super Bowl.
If there were ever any evidence to support the 49ers holding on to their draft picks, fourth-rounder Malik Mustapha would solve any case. Mustapha didn’t play in Week 1, despite Hufanga still being out. After a shaky Week 1 performance from Odum, Mustapha played 31 snaps in Week 2. The six snaps he played in Week 3 would be the last time he played fewer than 20 snaps in a game the rest of the season.
The 125th overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft was the best safety on the roster, and it wasn’t that close. The 49ers didn’t allow deep passes with Mustapha on the field. He excelled as a “post” safety, and Mustapha was an enforcer against the run. When he hit you, you went in the opposite direction.
One thing the safeties must clean up moving forward is the tackling. It’s the area we took for granted all of those years with Jimmie Ward and Jaquaski Tartt — two of the most sound tacklers during their tenure in the league.
Per Sports Info Solutions, Brown — who I still think is a capable starter — missed 18.3 percent of his tackle attempts. Mustapha was 19.3 percent, while Hufanga, you might want to sit down for this, was 28.3 percent.
I’ve learned that the perception of Hufanga is not rooted in reality whenever his name gets brought up. Many fans I’ve interacted with are convinced that Talanoa’s presence on the field was a positive for the Niners’ defense.
That missed tackle percentage would be higher if we counted the poor angles he took that never resulted in making contact. He wasn’t targeted often in 2024 but allowed 90 percent of his receptions to be completed for a passer rating of 106.3. It’s not a big deal if a linebacker or safety allows underneath completions if you secure the tackle. But Hufanga allowed 62 percent of his yards to come after the catch.
Given his lengthy injury history and inconsistencies, it makes sense for the 49ers to move on from the former USC product now that he’s an unrestricted free agent. Luckily, the answer is in free agency, and we saw him play on Monday night.
Not that Harry of a situation
The goal at safety should be to maximize Mustapha. That means you surround him with a veteran who has seen it all and knows the game inside and out. For the past decade, Harrison Smith has been one of the best safeties in the NFL. His contract is void, and he is officially a free agent.
Smith turns 36 next month. It goes without saying that he’s not the long-term solution, but he’s missed one game in the previous two years. And judging by his play this past season, he’s got plenty left in the tank.
Smith’s missed tackle percentage was a career-high this past year at 17.5 percent, but he had been below 14.4 percent every season since 2015. He has a knack for getting into throwing lanes and being around the ball, as evidenced by his seven pass breakups in 2024. For reference, only Renardo Green had more pass breakups this past season for the 49ers. Green was targeted 70 times, while Smith saw 33 targets.
He also comes from an aggressive scheme where Smith was asked to rush the passer a few times per game. He’s one of the best pass-rushing defensive backs in the NFL and has been for a decade. Get this: Smith had a pressure rate of 24.4 percent last season.
When you watch him play, you can tell Smith understands everything about the game, from route distribution to how to attack a running back when he’s blitzing. Even if it’s only for one or two years, the knowledge Mustapha and Brown could glean from the veteran is priceless.
It helps that he’s a hell of a football player, too.
