CAPTAIN SANTA CLARA: After the New England Patriots defeated them in the preseason on Sunday, rookie Malik Mustapha removed his No. 43 jersey and went down a number. Mustapha put on the number 42, which is the retired jersey of renowned 49ers safety Ronnie Lott, which he had worn to the stadium.
“It was a mentality thing coming into the game, wearing a Ronnie Lott jersey for the first preseason home game of my NFL career,” Mustapha said at his locker. “I just wanted to go out there with the right mindset to attack the game.”
Mustapha put up yet another strong showing for the 49ers, recording five tackles. Though none of them were quite as spectacular as the Tennessee Titans’ fourth-down stop last week, Mustapha kept hammering home.
This occurred only a few days after Mustapha’s initial face-to-face meeting with Lott.
“I tried to pick his brain a little bit,” Mustapha said. “He’s seen so much of the game. I’m just trying to be a young guy, be a sponge, learn from the best. I definitely would love to talk to him more.”
Mali Mustapha bought a Ronnie Lott jersey shortly after the 49ers drafted him and he just met the Hall of Famer the other day pic.twitter.com/LRNEUiM9L2
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 19, 2024
The 22-year-old Mustapha was born in 2002, more than seven years after Lott’s last NFL game. However, the youngster has insisted on locating footage of previous Hall of Fame safeties. Mustapha stated he would have to “dust off VCR videos” of general manager John Lynch’s playing career when the 49ers selected him in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Given that his mentality has adopted Lott’s downhill approach as a model, it is evident that he is aware of it.
The 49ers had high hopes for the developing combination of Mustapha and fellow rookie cornerback Renardo Green, who was selected in the second round this season. Mustapha was a mobile defensive back for Wake Forest, and Green topped the ACC in passes defended while playing for Florida State. Both players played their college ball in the Atlantic Coast Conference. In the first quarter of Sunday’s game, Green stopped an out pass from Saints quarterback Derek Carr to receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. with a textbook example of press-man coverage.
“I like them,” said second-year 49ers safety Ji’Ayir Brown of Mustapha and Green. “They’re very mature. I think that’s what we do a great job of, bringing in mature guys. Everyone in the back on defense, everybody in the locker room — honestly, mature guys. So, I like that from them. I like their attention to detail, their work ethic. And they bring a lot to the table, as far as athletic ability and their passion and how they bring it to the game.”
Last week, Mustapha assisted in correcting Green’s pre-snap alignment on a play that ended in a Tennessee incompletion by barking and making gestures from the high safety position. It was a remarkable demonstration of field command by a rookie playing in his first NFL game.
Green stated that he and Mustapha had been in contact throughout the summer program and training camp, and that their correspondence began before to the 49ers selecting either player in the draft.
“Me and Malik trained together before the draft,” Green said at his locker. “When we both found out we were coming here, we knew we had already clicked back when we were in Broward (County) training. We’d be on the same page a lot. I’d tell him, ‘get over the top, make this play, make this play’, and he’d be right on beat.”
The fact that Green played safety for two years at Florida State may also have contributed to the pair’s excellent early connection. He was switched between that position and cornerback by the Seminoles, and Green attributes his ability to handle the demanding workload the 49ers put on him early in his career to that switching. In an attempt to find a guy who can replace seasoned DB Deommodore Lenoir, Green has filled the roles of both outside and slot cornerback.
“In college, I played multiple roles in the secondary, so it’s nothing new,” Green said. “I’ve got previous history doing it.”
Mustapha, on the other hand, has a great deal of experience playing in different alignments. In Wake Forest’s “Panther” package, he served as a flexible chess piece. In the same way that seasoned safety Talanoa Hufanga was able to break through the lineup as a third safety in 2021, Mustapha’s versatility may allow him to see more playing time.
Therefore, it would appear that both of these guys’ prospects for 2024 depend greatly on their maturity, as Brown mentioned. The 49ers think they have acquired two rookie DBs with unusually high levels of experience. They will now watch to see if that sophistication translates into any early-season on-field contributions.
But Mustapha may need to get off of it before that time comes. Star left tackle Trent Williams’s stall is currently close to his locker; however, Williams is not there due to his ongoing holdout. Williams has held two, and on occasion even three, lockers throughout the last two seasons, including the one that Mustapha currently holds. However, Williams’ absence means that the 49ers have temporarily given up some valuable real estate, since they must squeeze 90 guys into the space until roster cuts after the preseason.
Perhaps another indication of Mustapha’s maturity is the fact that he is not ignorant of the NFL system. Mustapha just grinned when asked about his missing neighbor since he knows that newcomers have to earn their keep.
“I kind of invaded his second locker,” Mustapha said, laughing. “I’ll probably get kicked out once he gets back.”
The 49ers will be pleased to find him a different locker room place. At the very least, his play thus far has earned that, and it indicates that more powerful blows are on the way.
(Photo of Malik Mustapha: Cary Edmondson / USA Today)
