The 49ers may have found another Day 3 gem, who has quickly become an impact player.
The San Francisco 49ers have faced their fair share of injuries this season, with a number of starters missing multiple weeks, which has been a part of their early-season struggles.
Offensively, San Francisco has missed running back Christian McCaffrey for the entire season, while they recently lost wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk for the year after he suffered a torn ACL and MCL this past weekend.
Defensively, the 49ers have seen a number of issues crop up as well, as defensive tackle Javon Hargrave will likely miss the rest of the year with a triceps injury, while safety Talanoa Hufanga has been in and out of the lineup with a variety of issues.
Unfortunately for Hufanga, his latest injury could rule him out for the rest of the year, as he has multiple torn wrist ligaments, although he may look to play in a cast, according to his agent.
With the injury, rookie Malik Mustapha has stepped into the starting role, playing alongside second-year pro Ji’Ayir Brown as the team’s safety tandem.
Mustapha started the year as a reserve for San Francisco, working behind Brown and veteran George Odum, but the rookie impressed the staff enough to earn the start in Week 4 against the New England Patriots when Hufanga was dealing with an ankle injury.
Hufanga briefly returned in Week 5 before suffering the hand injury, but since then, it’s mainly been Mustapha with the top defense, as the rookie has looked to impress with his tackling ability.
Mustapha made multiple highlight-reel plays early in the game against the Kansas City Chiefs, ultimately ending the day with a team-high eight tackles in the loss.
How has Mustapha impressed the staff thus far as he continues to earn more reps?
“We’re happy with Malik. He gets better every week,” defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen said ahead of Week 8. “He gets better every game. He gets more command and comfort back there, communicating with guys, and you just see him continue to cut it loose. But also, he is making plays for us, whether it’s in tackling or taking the ball. So, happy with what he’s doing.”
The tackling aspect has especially shined, with head coach Kyle Shanahan calling the safety a sprint-tackler, as he doesn’t shorten his stride when embracing hits.
“He really flashes with it,” Sorensen said about Mustapha’s tackling. “We try and coach sprint-tackling. That’s how we want to tackle damn near every time. But it’s tough when guys can do it as consistent as he does. You see it with Fred [Warner] and [Dre Greenlaw] Law and guys, but he jumped out on tape doing a lot of that too in college. So that was one of the things that I loved about him in college, too. And now he continues to bring it to the league. So that’s what you’re seeing and it’s awesome.”
“Where you sit in a chair, and you stop, I think everyone thinks that’s how you need to tackle. I think there are different styles of tackling. It’s something that’s come up, I think in here, talking about it a little bit too. But it’s just a different mentality. It’s a different way of tackling. It’s a different style when you want to bring multiple guys running at full speed. You have to trust yourself, you have to trust your teammate. You never want to miss, but we want to bring violence and force to the ball carrier every time. And we feel the same way with our big guys as stack-monsters coming out of the stack to go get that hit as well. So everything, sprint-tackle, speed and violence.”
Mustapha will continue to face his fair share of rookie moments, such as the touchdown run from Patrick Mahomes last weekend, but he’s impressed early on and has looked fairly sound with his fundamentals, quickly earning a role on this San Francisco defense.
