Mabin providing a lift to secondary
After four games, the 49ers are on pace to allow 44 passing touchdowns and have four interceptions this season, but help might be on the way.
Here comes ... cornerback Greg Mabin to the rescue?
Mabin, 24, is an unlikely candidate to assist the struggling secondary, but the twicewaived 2017 undrafted free agent unquestionably provided a lift in the second half of Sunday’s 29-27 loss to the Chargers.
On his first snap, Mabin stopped running back Melvin Gordon for a 2-yard gain. On his second snap, Mabin tackled Gordon again and forced a fumble that went out of bounds.
Mabin’s opening foreshadowed a strong 29-snap performance. He was the 49ers’ highest-graded defensive player, according to Pro Football Focus. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has indicated Mabin could make his first career start Sunday when the 49ers host the Cardinals.
“I was really happy with how he played and that’s why he got some (playing) time,” Shanahan said. “That’s how he’s looked in practice and he carried it over to the game. We’ll see how this week goes. We’ve got a number of guys. … We’ll see how those guys compete throughout the week and make our decision as it goes.”
Mabin will be competing with players who are far more heralded. Against the Chargers, he rotated with Ahkello Witherspoon, a 2017 third-round pick, and Jimmie Ward, a 2014 first-rounder who is the 49ers’ highest-paid defensive player.
If Mabin starts against Arizona, he most likely would unseat Witherspoon, who was benched for a Week 3 loss in Kansas City. Witherspoon returned to the field when Richard Sherman (calf ) was injured against the Chiefs, and Sherman is expected to miss his second straight game Sunday.
Regardless of his status against Arizona, it has been a wild 12-month ride for Mabin, who joined the 49ers last October.
In December, in his first snap at cornerback after starter Dontae Johnson sustained a shoulder injury, Mabin gave up an 8-yard touchdown pass in a win over the Bears. The following Sunday in Houston, however, Mabin replaced Johnson, who was being torched by DeAndre Hopkins, and limited the AllPro wide receiver to one catch in the final 27 minutes. Less than a week later, Mabin sustained a calf strain in practice and missed the next two games.
Mabin’s assessment of his tenure with his third NFL team?
“A lot of ups and downs,” he said. “I would just say that I’m happy I’m in the position I’m in right now. And that I’m happy I was able to get that opportunity that I did last game, and that I was able to come up big for us when we needed it.”
At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Mabin has the size the 49ers seek in cornerbacks. However, he had just three interceptions in his 35-start career at Iowa and missed the final four games of his senior season with an ankle injury that required surgery.
He was signed in May 2017 by the Buccaneers, who waived him a week later. He spent four months with the Bills, who waived him last October.
“It was discouraging, but it wasn’t like I was playing bad (in Buffalo) and I got released,” Mabin said. “It was a numbers thing. And sometimes being undrafted, you get the short end of the stick.”
Mabin was prepared for more disappointment Sunday.
Before the game, secondary coach Jeff Hafley told him he would enter the game on the third or fourth defensive series. As it turns out, though, Mabin wasn’t summoned until midway through the third quarter.
“I realized what was going on,” Mabin said of his unexpected wait, “but I wasn’t going to get sad or get mad about it.”
Instead, Mabin evidently got prepared for his chance to make an impression against the Chargers. And now the outlook for his up-and-down career is a bit brighter.
“I’m thankful for that opportunity I had in Buffalo,” Mabin said, “and I’m very thankful for this opportunity. The weather is a little bit better, too.”