San Francisco 49ers Taking Risk With Lack Of Safety Depth

The San Francisco 49ers are arguably overstocked at several positions on what is one of the best rosters in the NFL, yet they once again enter the season with significant questions about their secondary.

In previous years the Niners have consistently looked short of depth at the cornerback position, an area where the injury bug has regularly bitten them. This year, however, it is at safety where the 49ers appear desperately light.

With Jimmie Ward set to go on injured reserve because of a hamstring injury, the Niners will enter the 2022 season with only three safeties on the active roster.

While Talanoa Hufanga and Tarvarius Moore have each shown sporadic signs of promise, neither they nor free agent acquisition George Odum have established themselves as starting safeties at the highest level.

Moore has the most experience as a starter. He has started 13 games for the Niners, while Odum has 10 starts to his name and Hufanga just three.

Yet San Francisco appears happy to go into the season with that trio as their safety options, leaving the Niners with little wiggle room should they suffer any injuries at the position.

The 49ers have invested in safeties. Moore was a third-round pick in 2018 and they spent a fifth-rounder in last year’s draft on Hufanga. However, their apparent unwillingness to make moves to cement some depth at the position is bemusing given theirs is a roster partially overseen by Hall of Fame safety John Lynch and the increased importance of safeties in the modern NFL.

Indeed, as NFL offenses are shifting bigger receivers into the slot to combat the rise of nickel defenses as essentially the league’s base personnel package, safeties with size and the coverage ability to drop into the slot and effectively cover such pass-catchers are becoming ever more valuable.

Ward’s success in playing the deep middle, in the box and covering the slot is what has made him such an important part of the San Francisco defense.

Though the Niners will hope to have Ward back after the first four games of the season, for the time being they are without are a safety on the roster who has proven they can effectively fulfil the same variety of roles that Ward can.

San Francisco will be favored to get off to a fast start even without Ward in its first two games against the Chicago Bears and the Seattle Seahawks, but playing with a clutch of unproven safeties becomes a riskier move when the 49ers take on the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams in Weeks 3 and 4.

The 49ers may sign Dontae Johnson, who can play every spot in the secondary, to the practice squad to serve as additional depth they can promote to the active roster if needed.

Additionally, with Samuel Womack excelling as the starting nickel and corners Charvarius Ward, Emmanuel Moseley and Deommodore Lenoir all capable of playing the slot, the Niners may not to be concerned with having a safety who can drop down and operate in that role in the early part of the season.

Such confidence in the versatility of the corners could be a reason why the Niners have not as yet made a move to re-sign last year’s starting strong safety Jaquiski Tartt after he was released by the Philadelphia Eagles.

But a lack of cornerback depth left the 49ers starting players who were not up to the task at that position last year. Their gamble at safety puts them at risk of being left in a similar situation again this season in an area they have curiously failed to solidify.