The San Francisco 49ers hit a home run in 2021 with the selection of a playmaking safety from USC.
Just eight days from the start of the 2024 draft, the 49ers are showing interest in adding another USC safety who could provide competition for All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga.
The 49ers brought in Calen Bullock for a top-30 visit on Wednesday, the final day for such visits to take place.
San Francisco had on Tuesday held a visit with another safety in Utah's Sione Vaki.
With Hufanga coming off a torn ACL and fellow starter Ji'Ayir Brown having only made five regular-season starts in his rookie year, the 49ers would benefit from an infusion of extra depth at the position. With Hufanga a free agent next offseason, investing in a a safety who could potentially succeed him would also be an astute move by San Francisco.
Bullock has the talent to do so. The likely day-two pick demonstrated excellent playmaking ability across his career with the Trojans. He recorded 15 pass breakups and nine interceptions, including a career-high five in 2022, in three seasons at the college level.
A different type of safety to Hufanga, one of the 49ers' chief tone-setters who does his best work going downhill and attacking the line of scrimmage as both a run defender and a blitzer.
Bullock is a rangy safety with the athletic upside to excel in the single-high role and also thrive in the slot. Though there are concerns over his run defense, Bullock's versatility in being able to operate as a center fielder and play in the slot could allow him to see the field early as a rookie and free up the Niners to use Hufanga in more creative ways closer to the line of scrimmage.
In the short term, the potential selection of Bullock may help the 49ers take some of the burden off Hufanga as he returns from injury and enable him to perform in a role that puts him in the best position to get back to his All-Pro level in the final year of his contract.
In the long term, however, if Bullock is picked by the Niners and enjoys success as a rookie, it could spell a changing of the guard at the safety position next offseason.
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