49ers could use rookie Ji’Ayir Brown in three-safety sets

The San Francisco 49ers know who their starting safeties will be in 2023. They are All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga and 12th-year veteran Tashaun Gipson. Gipson, who is 32 years old, reportedly flirted with the idea of retiring this offseason before returning to the Niners on a one-year deal.

The always forward-thinking 49ers used their first pick in April’s draft, a third-rounder, to add a player they hope can be Gipson’s eventual replacement—Ji’Ayir Brown out of Penn State.

Don’t expect Brown to simply be an observer on the sidelines during his rookie season while Hufanga and Gipson do all the work. The 49ers plan to find ways to get him onto the football field and gain valuable experience. According to The Athletic, the coaches plan to utilize some three-safety sets in 2023 to get Brown into games.

The rookie is just too versatile of a defender to keep sidelined.

“He has our DNA that we’re looking for on defense,” defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks said of Brown on Thursday, per The Athletic. “We’re looking for a guy that’s physical, that’s smart, that can finish. When you look at Ji’Ayir, he’s versatile. He can line up on all three levels of the defense. He can line up on the line of scrimmage. He can rush off the edge. He can drop back a level and play man coverage. He can play zone as well. And he can also drop back into the post and show that range and go get the football.”

Brown has been impressive so far during organized team activities. The safety is finding ways to the football and already has multiple interceptions.

“He’s done a great job,” wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, Brown’s locker neighbor, said this week. “He’s got like three or four picks already through these first couple of days. And he just comes in, wants to work when the work comes in, doesn’t say too much, just work. So I like him. I like him a lot.”

Brown finished his collegiate career with 10 interceptions, all coming in the last two seasons. The 49ers hope that big-time playmaking ability continues in the NFL.

“When you look at a guy who has 10 career interceptions in college — usually, the guys who are always around the football are going to get the football,” Bullocks said. “And it really doesn’t stop when they get to the NFL. They’re usually around the ball as well.”

It looks like that has carried over into the NFL, at least during practices so far. That made Brown’s locker neighbor smile because he knows what that could mean for the 49ers’ season.

“He had a couple of tip balls. I’m not sure,” Aiyuk said when asked how those interceptions were achieved. “I was in one of the plays. I was in a few plays, actually, where he had a pick, so I don’t remember what exactly it looked like. But a pick is a pick, so we want that regardless. I know a lot of people who leave picks out there, and he actually left one out there, so he might have even had five. But he’s getting to the ball as a safety, so you love to see it.”