San Francisco’s training camp opens with the secondary under the brightest spotlight, and there’s no shortage of names trying to force their way into the conversation.
The group starts with Renardo Green, Deommodore Lenoir, and Ji’Ayir Brown, but none of those spots feels locked in. Green carries the biggest pressure point after picking off just one pass in his career.
That number has to climb, because if it doesn’t, the competition can pass him by. Lenoir, now in his fifth season as a starter, brings some steadiness and wore a captain’s armband last year, but that kind of respect only stretches so far without production to match it.
At safety, the 49ers have real depth with Brown, Malik Mustapha, and Marques Sigle, though Brown is entering the final year of his rookie deal, which means a financial decision is coming sooner than the team probably wants. Mustapha’s return from the ACL injury that cost him last year’s camp adds another layer to the picture, and his movement once full-contact work starts will say plenty about where San Francisco stands at safety for 2026.
There is at least one dependable piece in the back end already. Slot cornerback Upton Stout was arguably the unit’s best defender last season as a rookie, giving the 49ers a building block they can trust. The question is whether he can hold that level over a full season.
But the biggest shake-up may come from outside the incumbents altogether. Jack Jones, Nate Hobbs, and fourth-round rookie Ephesians Prysock all bring traits the current group doesn’t fully have, and at least one of them is expected to take someone’s job before the preseason is over.
Jones arrives with plenty of NFL evidence behind him. He has started 39 of his 58 career games across four franchises, has eight interceptions and 33 pass breakups, and posted 16 pass breakups in 2024 alone with the Las Vegas Raiders before starting every game last season with the Miami Dolphins. That’s a long résumé and a lot of tape.
Hobbs brings a different kind of value. He’s more naturally a slot corner, but his versatility is exactly what made him interesting to San Francisco years ago when the team reportedly tried to get him in a trade.
Over four seasons in Las Vegas, he logged three interceptions, three forced fumbles, and three sacks. He also played 48% of the Green Bay Packers’ defensive snaps last season.
Prysock is the wild card in the room. The 6-foot-3 rookie ran a 4.45-second 40-yard dash, and his size-speed combo gives him a real chance to push into the mix. Darrell Luter Jr., Eli Apple, and Jakob Robinson are also part of the competition.
On offense, De’Zhaun Stribling has quietly become one of the more interesting names to watch before camp even gets rolling. CBS Sports’ Jordan Dajani listed him as a sleeper for Offensive Rookie of the Year, and the case is easy to see. Stribling caught 55 passes for 811 yards and led Ole Miss with six receiving touchdowns in 2026.
He also ran a 4.36-second 40 at 6-foot-2, and one NFL team reportedly graded him above Philadelphia Eagles first-round pick Makai Lemon. Kyle Shanahan does not give rookies anything they haven’t earned, but Stribling’s speed and blocking fit the offense, and with Kendrick Bourne and Jauan Jennings both gone, there are targets available.
In Other News...
Kyle Shanahan's Super Bowl Legacy Just Took Another Brutal Hit
Kyle Shanahans run of near-misses keeps hanging over the 49ers, even as he remains one of the NFLs most respected offensive minds. The latest reminder came in a look back at some of the best Super Bowl-less teams of the last 20 years, where Shanahans fingerprints showed up more than once through the 2016 Falcons, the 2019 49ers and the 2023 49ers. Each group had enough talent and momentum to reach the leagues biggest stage, and each one left with the same frustrating result, adding another layer to the coachs already complicated postseason reputation.
For San Francisco, the hard part is that the story is not just about one loss or one bad bounce. Shanahan has continued to guide the 49ers back into contention, but the pattern of coming up short has made every deep run feel heavier than the last. Even with the roster still built to chase a title, the lingering questions around his biggest-game decisions and how much trust he places in the people around him remain part of the backdrop as the 49ers try again to finally break through. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Fans May Soon Revisit John Lynchs Most Questioned Pick
The 49ers took plenty of heat when they used their first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling, with critics calling it an unnecessary reach and ESPNs Seth Walder going so far as to label the move bad process. Even so, there is already a different conversation building around the rookie, because some evaluators see enough talent and opportunity to put him in the early mix for Offensive Rookie of the Year consideration.
For now, Stribling is not being handed anything in San Francisco, and the path to meaningful snaps runs through a crowded receiver room. Mike Evans, Ricky Pearsall and Christian Kirk are all ahead of him, but the door could open quickly if injuries hit the depth chart, which is why this pick may end up looking a lot different by midseason than it did on draft night. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Could Be Headed For Their Biggest Offensive Shakeup In Years
The 49ers are heading into camp with a few offensive roles suddenly looking a lot less settled than they did a year ago. One of the biggest questions sits at wide receiver, where the spot alongside Mike Evans is open enough to turn into a real battle, with Ricky Pearsall and rookie De'Zhaun Stribling both in the mix as San Francisco sorts out how it wants that grouping to look this season.
There is a similar sense of change at tight end, where Jake Tonges new contract extension points to a larger role behind George Kittle and hints at a different usage pattern for the offense as a whole. If Tonges is going to be on the field more often, it could naturally squeeze the snaps available to Kyle Juszczyk, which makes this one of those offseason shifts that could quietly alter how the 49ers line up in more than one way. [Read more 🡒]