Cerebral safety Mustapha could earn starts as rookie
Defensive back impresses staff with talent, intelligence, drive
Before the San Francisco 49ers met with safety Malik Mustapha at the NFL combine, their scouts had submitted reports, based on conversations with coaches and other support staff at Wake Forest, that raved about the team captain’s character, desire and smarts.
And then the meeting began. And the 49ers’ top decision-makers joined the chorus.
“He immediately stood out as one of the best combine interviews we had the entire time,” director of player personnel Tariq Ahmad said. “He was serious. He was personable. He was extremely intelligent. And you felt his passion for football. So that, on top of what we heard from the school, it confirmed everything we heard. And it made him a conviction guy for us.”
It was particularly notable that general manager John Lynch was perhaps the most convinced. Lynch is a cerebral Hall of Fame safety from Stanford who was known for his hellacious hitting during his 15-season career. From studying Mustapha on video, Lynch saw a kindred spirit who ran to the ball with “bad intentions” and had an ability to quickly diagnose plays that showed he “understands football at a high level.”
On Thursday, after reporting for the 49ers’ rookie minicamp, Mustapha recalled that interview and how he immediately connected with Lynch, who was eager to confirm his belief about Mustapha’s football IQ.
“He was kind of lighting up when I was breaking down the Wake Forest play calls that they pulled up, (going) play by play,” Mustapha said. “As a safety, you have to know about the moving pieces. Who is doing what in the defense. He saw that I know what I’m talking about.”
What the 49ers saw — and heard — prompted them to select Mustapha in the fourth
round of the NFL draft last month despite his lack of prototypical size (5-foot-10, 206 pounds) or elite speed (40-yard dash: 4.54 seconds).
Mustapha was the 49ers’ fourth pick, but a compelling case could be made that he has the best chance of the 49ers’ eight draftees to start as a rookie. Incumbent strong safety Talanoa Hufanga is coming off a torn ACL he suffered in November and his performance last season dipped from his 2022 All-Pro level before he was injured. Before drafting Mustapha, the 49ers had interest during free agency in at least two starting-caliber safeties, Julian Blackmon (Colts) and Rayshawn Jenkins (Seahawks).
Ahmad didn’t discuss Mustapha’s potential for playing time as a rookie, but Ahmad did acknowledge Mustapha was more NFL-ready than a typical draft pick.
“Because of his intelligence and because of his football character, I would agree with that,” Ahmad said. “It should be a smooth transition.”
Mustapha’s transition from high school in Charlotte, N.C., to college couldn’t be termed smooth. He was a no-star recruit who played one season at Richmond, an FCS program, before transferring to spend his final three years at Wake Forest.
With the Demon Deacons, he became a twoyear starter who last season held opposing QBs to a 32% completion rate, the sixth best in FBS among safeties with at least 400 snaps. How did Mustapha become a mid-round NFL draft pick after he was viewed as a middling prep recruit?
“I would say it’s because of who he is as a person,” Ahmad said. “He worked extremely hard to become the player that he is. He’s got excellent short-area acceleration. Excellent demeanor. Burst. Explosiveness. The thing he does at a really high level is trigger, process and react. You’ll see that. He can close. He can really close at a high level.”
Mustapha couldn’t change his height — he was the fifth shortest among the 64 defensive backs at the combine — but he could transform his body to become an explosive, collision-seeking safety. Mustapha’s firehydrant frame evokes memories of Doug Martin, the 5-9 former Tampa Bay running back known as the “Muscle Hampster.” Lynch said he’s built like an “Adonis.”
Said Ahmad, laughing: “He is solid. My goodness.”
Mustapha touched on his inner strength when asked about the courage required to play with such physicality at his size.
“Being undersized and being overlooked, it formed a mentality of not worrying about how big I am,” Mustapha said. “We’ve all got pads on and we’ve all got helmets on. I’m just worried about bringing the ballcarrier down and getting takeaways.
… It’s not how big I am or how tall I am, but it’s about me having the heart and the desire. The fuel and heart I have for this game is what drives me to play that way.”
Of course, he also possesses talent. And smarts. And it’s part of a package that wowed the 49ers’ decision-makers once Mustapha’s meeting began at the combine.
“Sometimes you can think ‘Is this rehearsed’ and it’s like you have to figure people out,” defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen said. “But his (meeting) seemed like he really knew what he was talking about and could explain certain things. … It seemed like real football talk.”