Kyle Shanahan Reveals Plans for 49ers' Starting Three Safeties

The San Francisco 49ers had a tough decision to make at safety coming out of the bye. They had three players with starting capability and two starting spots to fill. Instead of making a firm decision, the 49ers decided to rotate Malik Mustapha, Marques Sigle, and Ji’Ayir Brown in their Week 9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

San Francisco 49ers Rotate Three Safeties in Week 9 Win

Head coach Kyle Shanahan admitted that right now he does not have a strong end goal or hope for how things will turn out in the room.

“I don't think we know what the end goal is,” said Shanahan in a conference call on Monday. “We got three good guys that are playing at a very high level. So, you just play that till it plays itself out.”

The 49ers started the season with Ji’Ayir Brown starting next to Marques Sigle. However, as Shanahan noted, that was mostly because third-year starter Malik Mustapha was hurt in the summer leading into the season.

Sigle was playing too well to bench. When Sigle got hurt, Mustapha came back. Now, he is playing too well to bench, according to Shanahan.

“Just like Malik hurt his playing time just because of injuries in training camp,” admitted Shanahan. “Then kind of the same thing happened to Sigle, who was also playing at a real high level before he was hurt. And Tig's been the one who stayed consistent and healthy. So all three of those guys have been going.”

So, according to Shanahan, the team does not plan to bench any of them as of now. They will rotate the group. So, Mustapha plays with Brown, Brown plays with Sigle, and Sigle plays with Mustapha. Shanahan said that if they separate themselves, that is great, but he does not need to see that.

“I think it's been if two separate themselves way over another, then obviously we would keep those guys out there longer,” added Shanahan. “But we'll just keep doing it week to week, and we'll see what it ends up. But it's a pretty good problem to have.”

Shanahan appears to have no intention of making a firm decision anytime soon. Mustapha led the way with 41 snaps in Week 9. Brown had 31 and Sigle had 22. We will see if they change the rotation in Week 10 when the 49ers take on the Dallas Cowboys.

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