If you want to point to personnel decisions the San Francisco 49ers have made in recent years that look really bad in retrospect, picking 2024 4th-round pick Malik Mustapha over NFL All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga before the 2025 season should be toward the top of the list.
The 49ers decided Mustapha was their safety of the future late in the 2024 season after injuries to Hufanga. That was despite Mustapha suffering a torn ACL at the end of his rookie year. Ultimately, the 49ers didn’t really put up a fight when the Denver Broncos swiped Hufanga in free agency on a 3-year, $33 million deal.
Hufanga had arguably the best season of his career in 2025, leading a Broncos defense that guided the way to a 14-3 regular-season finish, No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoffs, and a spot in the AFC Championship Game. He was also named All-Pro for the 2nd time in his career.
Mustapha, on the other hand, missed the 1st 5 games of the 2025 regular season, and when he did return, he seemed like a shell of his former self.
Niners Noise’s Peter Panacy pointed out how bad 2025 was for Mustapha and how badly the 49ers need him to return to his rookie form in 2026.
“The hard-hitting defensive back who grew up a Niners fan had his share of splash plays during an otherwise forgettable and injury-plagued campaign for his team, although news of him suffering a torn ACL during the regular-season finale certainly cast some doubt entering year two of his NFL career,” Panacy wrote. ” … Sophomore regressions are common, especially among defensive backs, and this was evident in Mustapha’s on-field efforts for much of 2025. In contrast to his rookie year, where he allowed opposing quarterbacks a lowly 44.4 passer rating and 35.0 completion percentage when targeting him, those numbers jumped to 116.9 and 66.7, respectively, the next season.”
Mustapha’s Play Didn’t Totally Bottom Out in 2025
A closer look at Mustapha’s play in 2025 shows that he didn’t totally bottom out — he was just really average.
According to Pro Football Focus, Mustapha’s overall grade of 64.5 put him at 47th out of 98 eligible players at his position.
“If you had to pick one young player on the 49ers roster that you believe will become a star in the NFL, who is it?” 49ers News 24/7 wrote on its official X account on July 3. “I’ll Start: Safety Malik Mustapha.”
Through his 1st 2 NFL seasons, Mustapha has 148 tackles, 2 interceptions (1 each season), 8 pass deflections, and 5 TFL.
Transfer From FCS Program Springboard to NFL
Mustapha, 5-foot-11 and 206 pounds, is a Weddington, North Carolina, native who started his college career at Richmond, an FCS program, before transferring to Wake Forest after his freshman season.
Like a handful of other college football players in 2021 — the 1st year of the NIL era — Mustapha played 2 college football seasons in 1 year in 2021 after FCS schools that didn’t play in the fall of 2020 played a shortened regular season in the spring of 2021, including Mustapha and Richmond.
Mustapha was a full-time starter his final 2 seasons, including earning All-ACC honors in 2023.
“Two-year starting safety lacking desired height and length but carrying a compact, muscular frame for the rigors of the position,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “Mustapha will be in consideration as a down safety who can help support against the run and handle short and intermediate zone coverages. He’s not overly instinctive, but he does play with a good burst on throws and well-timed challenges. He struggles against bigger targets and might not be the best option to handle single- or two-high safety looks. There are occasional mistakes made with aggressive downhill angles to ball-carriers, but he’s generally in position and maintains tackle-ready posture when the time comes. He projects as an average backup but does possess some quality play traits.”
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