One of the biggest questions hanging over the San Francisco 49ers defense is what they’re going to do at safety. That spot was uneven last season, and the team didn’t exactly flood the offseason with answers.
San Francisco’s two most notable moves were bringing in undrafted free agent Jalen Stroman out of Notre Dame and signing Ashtyn Davis in free agency. Davis is a useful player, but he’s not an elite, starting-caliber safety by any stretch.
So if the 49ers weren’t going to solve the issue with a major signing or a trade, the next move might be a little more creative: change a player’s position.
David Lombardi of the San Francisco Standard floated that idea on social media, writing, “Don’t sleep on the possibility of Upton Stout filling a 49ers’ gap at safety… The 49ers will want Stout, their best defensive player to close last season, on the field for 100% of snaps. As a pure nickel, that was not the case for Stout last season.”
It’s a fascinating possibility, even if it would still come as a surprise. ESPN recently pegged Stout as San Francisco’s most likely breakout player, though that projection came with him staying at cornerback rather than sliding to safety.
Lombardi’s comparison points back to how the 49ers used Jimmie Ward. Ward was mainly a safety, but San Francisco also deployed him at nickel corner at times. That kind of hybrid usage could be the model if the team wants Stout on the field more often.
New defensive coordinator Raheem Morris appears to be leaning toward that kind of flexibility in the secondary. He seems more interested in roles than rigid labels, and that’s going to be one of the more interesting things to monitor in training camp and the preseason.
Stout isn’t the only defender on the roster who can move around. The 49ers also drafted linebacker Jaden Dugger in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, and he’s viewed as another player who can handle multiple spots.
Of course, there’s a downside to all this versatility. Moving Stout into a new position could carry real risk, especially after he showed promise at cornerback. The 49ers will have to be careful not to disrupt his development in the process.
Still, every defensive coordinator leaves a mark on a defense, and Morris may do it by making San Francisco’s unit more positionless.
In Other News...
49ers May Have Found Kris Kocureks Next Sneaky Project
The 49ers added another intriguing name to their defensive line mix by signing Cameron Sample, a former Bengals end whose profile fits the kind of low-risk, high-upside bet San Francisco has made before. The one-year deal includes $225,000 in guaranteed money, which suggests he is more than a camp body, but still leaves him having to earn a real role in a crowded room.
Sample has long been viewed more as a run defender than a pass rusher, and that is exactly where Kris Kocurek tends to find value. The 49ers have a history of watching Kocurek help castoffs and under-the-radar linemen find new life, and Sample could be next if he can carve out a niche as a backup who helps set the edge and stabilize the run defense. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Just Added More Camp Tension With Another Special Teams Move
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San Francisco also placed undrafted free agent Khalil Dinkins on the Active/Non-Football Injury List, which gives the team some roster flexibility for now but leaves his status hanging as the cutdown deadline approaches. If he is not activated by then, he would shift to reserve/NFI, miss at least four games, and stay off the 53-man roster count, another small but meaningful wrinkle in a camp that already has a few moving parts. [Read more 🡒]
No 49ers Made The Bay Area Mount Rushmore And Fans Know Why
Bleacher Reports Bay Area sports Mount Rushmore for the past 26 years left 49ers fans with a familiar gripe: not a single San Francisco player made the cut. The list leaned heavily on Giants and Warriors legends, a reminder of how much the regions recent championship story has been shaped by those two franchises, even as the 49ers have their own deep history and plenty of success from the 20th century.
For the Niners to force their way into that kind of conversation again, the path is pretty clear. A Super Bowl run would change the discussion fast, and the most realistic names are Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey and Fred Warner. Even then, it would likely take San Francisco adding a sixth Lombardi Trophy before any of them could start to feel like true Bay Area Mount Rushmore material. [Read more 🡒]