The 49ers went into the 2026 season with plenty of questions, and safety was right near the top of the list. That spot has been a headache for a while in San Francisco, with the team unable to lock in a dependable duo since 2023, when Tashaun Gipson and Talanoa Hufanga opened as the starters before Hufanga’s season ended with an injury and Ji’Ayir Brown stepped in.
Brown’s early promise has since leveled off, and his uneven play has made it hard for the 49ers to settle the position. Malik Mustapha’s rise in 2024 also hit a snag because of injury issues, leaving the team searching for a combination that would stick.
Two games into 2026, though, the picture looks different.
Brown and 2025 fifth-round pick Marques Sigle have emerged as the starting pair, and both have made strong cases. Against the Miami Dolphins last Sunday, Brown piled up 13 combined tackles and added a tackle for loss that helped keep Miami out of the end zone on a first-half red-zone trip. Sigle had nine tackles and recorded the first sack of his NFL career, and he still hasn’t allowed a reception through two games.
The snap counts tell the story of how quickly that duo has taken hold. Sigle has been on the field for 111 of 120 defensive snaps this season, while Brown has missed just nine. That has pushed Mustapha to the side for now.
Mustapha played six defensive snaps in relief of Brown against the Los Angeles Rams, then was used on only three snaps in the win over Miami. That’s a tough turn for a player who has shown the 49ers real ability when healthy, especially in coverage and against the run.
The setback this time came before the season really got going. A hamstring injury kept Mustapha out of much of training camp, and that gave Sigle and Brown the runway to take control of the job.
Kyle Shanahan sounded encouraged by what he’s seen. Asked about the safeties on his Monday conference call, he said:
“I think they’ve been doing great. It was just unfortunate for Malik that he missed all of training camp and he didn’t get healthy until we were down in Australia.
Those guys got a lot of work together and really kind of solidified that job by how they played throughout the preseason and I think it’s shown here in these last two weeks. I think they’ve both played very well.
Malik did get in there for a few plays and I thought he played really well when he got in. He’s been looking great in practice too and getting right back to where he was.
We’ve got three guys right there who could all start for us, so it’s a good problem to have.”
That’s the twist here: a position that looked like a warning sign in the offseason has become one of the 49ers’ more stable spots. They also have veteran insurance in Ashtyn Davis, and while it’s possible Brown or Sigle could stumble and open the door for Mustapha, the team seems comfortable with that kind of competition.
For now, San Francisco has turned a long-running weakness into a strength-in-depth situation. That’s not the usual story at safety for this team, but it’s the one unfolding early in 2026.
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