DeMeco Ryans is "Happy With the Progress" Made From Talanoa Hufanga
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Talanoa Hufanga will undoubtedly be the starting safety opposite of Jimmie Ward.
With the way the 49ers are trotting him out with the first-team and how they're giving him a lot of playing time overall, Hufanga is poised for a key role on the defense. I'm sure Hufanga can guess that the starting spot will be his considering there is no one else who can take it from him. If he does have that presumed knowledge, Hufanga is still going out there like he is fighting for a job and improving.
The improvement he is making has not gone unnoticed as defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans has him in the lead of all the second-year defensive players.
"The one guy right now that stands out to me is Huf," said Ryans. "I think Huf has been doing an excellent job back in OTAs when we started and even up until now he's been doing a good job of communicating much better. Being at the safety position, we ask a lot of those guys to communicate and run the show, making calls and making checks on the back end and making sure everybody is on the same page, so I think he's taken a step there with the communication of running the show. Still has a way to go, still getting better, but I'm happy with the progress he's made from the spring up until now."
You start to understand more and more why the 49ers are going to have Hufanga as the starter. He isn't just sitting idly by and waiting to be handed prestige. He's going out there and honing his skills each and every day. A lot of his improvements are being made verbally and mentally, which is what he's going to need to sharpen as the season arrives and progresses.
The main weakness to Hufanga is his speed. He's not that fast to be a reliable outfield safety, so he's going to have to make up for it with his awareness and intellect. Aside from that, he can play exceptionally well within 15 yards of the line of scrimmage. There will definitely be some mess ups from him that will hurt the defense, but that is how he's going to learn and tighten up over time. Besides, the defense has enough talent to overcome his mistakes.
Stock just keeps rising for Hufanga.
