How the 49ers will use Malik Mustapha this season

While we do not know for sure, one of the reasons may come down to their trust in the versatility that Brown is bringing. The team has used Brown as a dime safety, and he has played free safety as recently as last season. While Pinnock has played both safety spots, he has only played free safety for the 49ers.

When Mustapha played, he mostly took on the free safety role, so the team was always going to replace Pinnock. However, with Mustapha being eased into the mix, so they still needed someone to take on some free safety snaps. 

When Mustapha was on the field, the team pushed Brown into the box as the strong safety. However, when they took Mustapha off of the field, Sigle was still best as a strong safety. So, Brown played the free safety role. 

Brown is more versatile than Pinnock, which allowed him to play with both Sigle and Mustapha. At the same time, there were too many coverage leaks by the end of the game. Some of that had to do with Baker Mayfield playing at an MVP level, and a good bit had to do with losing the presnap communication that Fred Warner is known for. 

Still, the safety play must improve. 

When Mustapha returns to a full-time role, we may see the team push their sixth-round rookie back to the bench full-time. Or, they may play Sigle in dime looks, which would allow Brown to go back into his dime role. Still, with Mustapha being versatile and being used to the versatile Brown, we may see this duo as the two starters full-time next week. This would be a complete flip from the first five weeks.