The 49ers’ second-year safety appears to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from a torn ACL
Malik Mustapha is showing encouraging signs in his recovery from the torn ACL he suffered in the final game of last season. The 49ers safety recently posted a video of a workout suggesting he is ahead of schedule as he works to get back onto the field.
Mustapha is expected to miss the start of the 2025 season, which has made the 49ers’ decision to so far not dip back into the veteran safety market, which still features the likes of Justin Simmons, Julian Blackmon and Jordan Whitehead – who played under defensive coordinator Robert Saleh in New York – all the more curious.
The 49ers do have a lot of safeties. In addition to Mustapha and 2023 third-round pick Ji’Ayir Brown, San Francisco also has Jason Pinnock, Richie Grant and rookie fifth-round pick Marques Sigle on the depth chart, along with special teamer George Odum and Jaylen Mahoney.
While the 49ers have depth at safety. It’s dubious to suggest they have strength in depth. Brown and Mustapha would be the presumptive starters with both healthy, but none of the the options outside of that duo project much confidence.
Only Pinnock and Grant have anything resembling significant starting experience, while Odum proved extremely vulnerable in coverage when he started briefly for the 49ers at the beginning of last season.
Saleh, though, appears to have great confidence in Pinnock, whom he drafted for the Jets in 2021 before losing him to the Giants in 2022. The Jets waived Pinnock as part of final roster cuts and were unable to sneak him onto the practice squad.
Asked about Pinnock earlier this month, Saleh said:
“We drafted J.P. as a corner and halfway through his rookie year we moved him over to safety. Credit some of the guys at the Jets that are still there, just kind of beat him out in that second year. But I’ve always been a fan of his athleticism, his length, his football IQ. He’s a really good football player and just being with him over the course of the first couple of months, he’s grown significantly from a maturity standpoint and he’s attacked the heck out of it. He’s going for it. So, with Jason, you’re getting a guy that’s going to add athleticism and speed and football IQ to your football team. And now that’s just a matter of him competing and holding onto it.”
Saleh’s faith in Pinnock to potentially hold the fort in Mustapha’s absence will likely be increased by the seemingly limited time in which he will need to do so, and the schedule the 49ers face in the opening weeks of the season.
The likelihood is that Mustapha will start the year on the PUP list, ruling him out of the first four games. In Week 1, the 49ers face a Seattle Seahawks offense led by Sam Darnold. Darold had success in the Minnesota Vikings’ Week 2 win over the 49ers last season, but San Francisco will be confident of curtailing his effectiveness if the defensive line can win its matchups up front.
The 49ers then face a New Orleans Saints offense set to be quarterbacked by Tyler Shough, before meeting the Arizona Cardinals and Jacksonville Jaguars. Both the Cardinals and Jags have extremely talented quarterbacks and some imposing offensive weapons, but neither attack could be considered a juggernaut last season.
As such, there could be a line of thinking within the 49er organization that there is little point bringing in another veteran safety who will likely want to start the entire season when there is a decent chance of surviving the first four games without Mustapha by relying on a deputy whom Saleh knows well.
If a longer lay-off was on the cards for Mustapha, another safety signing might have been more of a possibility. However, with Mustapha seemingly motoring towards a return, the 49ers will probably be content to take their chances with Pinnock to start the year.