Safeties: 2026 Draft Class

Originally posted by ChaunceyGardner:

Originally posted by TheFunkyChicken:

Originally posted by m_brockalexander:
Don't think anyone has mentioned Jalen Kilgore in this thread. CB conversion who would be a great option early on day 3

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25260916-nfl-draft-2026-scouting-report-south-carolina-cb-jalon-kilgore

This guy has been my favorite for a while. Had been thinking we could get him in the third but now… unsure if we use our second, trade back, or get lucky and get him in the fourth.

He is getting positive reviews for box safety or star position, similar to what we have. I think that is why people are looking at Bud Clark.

https://www.nfl.com/prospects/bud-clark/3200434c-4121-4868-812d-25f9e902c1c7

This is the problem. And I love Kilgore. And he does have nickel versatility. But he is a SS and thats not the big need. Its something that can be upgraded, but the much bigger need is at FS.

Originally posted by Kolohe:

Originally posted by 49ers808:

Originally posted by Nalo9er:
Ho sup u fakas. You guys getting nuts ah? Hufanga was fkn cherry but he's old news already. What you guys think about one haole safety in Michael Taafe? Had one chance for check em out?

Hahaha Kolohe know I love um. Get guys I would take before him but I wouldn't be mad if we got him. He all around and good character. 🤙🏾

Hehehe I know you would bring up Hufanga!!! 🤙🏾😁

Taafe is one of my picks I hope the 9ers draft. I think at worst he'll be a Pro Bowl Special Teamer with his speed. Hopefully they go Safety in the 2nd round though, unless of course they pick up another 3rd round pick!!

Haha right on braddahs! I like Taafe too if we wait on S a bit. Talk about old news, we need some Merton Hanks action back there! This Safety class looks good but I'm surprised we didn't go the vet route to have somebody "quarterback" the young, inexperienced secondary.

Originally posted by m_brockalexander:
Don't think anyone has mentioned Jalen Kilgore in this thread. CB conversion who would be a great option early on day 3

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25260916-nfl-draft-2026-scouting-report-south-carolina-cb-jalon-kilgore

Guy is a beast playmaker - would take Mustapha's job real quick.

But without a 3rd rounder don't expect to get this guy. #58 is too early for him but he will be long gone by #127 and good chance he goes top 100. If somehow he makes it to 100-110 he would be a worthy trade up candidate from #127.

Originally posted by scooterhd:

Originally posted by ChaunceyGardner:

Originally posted by TheFunkyChicken:

Originally posted by m_brockalexander:
Don't think anyone has mentioned Jalen Kilgore in this thread. CB conversion who would be a great option early on day 3

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25260916-nfl-draft-2026-scouting-report-south-carolina-cb-jalon-kilgore

This guy has been my favorite for a while. Had been thinking we could get him in the third but now… unsure if we use our second, trade back, or get lucky and get him in the fourth.

He is getting positive reviews for box safety or star position, similar to what we have. I think that is why people are looking at Bud Clark.

https://www.nfl.com/prospects/bud-clark/3200434c-4121-4868-812d-25f9e902c1c7

This is the problem. And I love Kilgore. And he does have nickel versatility. But he is a SS and thats not the big need. Its something that can be upgraded, but the much bigger need is at FS.

Yep that's why Bud Clark gets talked about. If Clark is somehow still there at #127 you rush up the card and take him assuming we did not draft a S with first two picks.

Clark is better than Taaffe so I'd prefer to use draft capital on him than the latter.

When we had #92 I did a few mocks where we draft Kilgore at #92 and traded up from #127 to the #110-#120 region to grab Clark as well. Kilgore is the better player so in those scenarios you take the better player (Kilgore) with #92 and then do a small trade up to grab Clark at a more appropriate value. But Lynch likes to reach (see Nick Martin and Upton Stout) so I would not have been shocked if we picked Clark at #92 when we had the pick obv

Originally posted by 49ers808:

Originally posted by Memphis9er:

Originally posted by 49ers808:

Originally posted by Kolohe:
You need a solid Safety if you're gonna win a Super Bowl. 49ers have had some good Safeties, but only had one great Safety since the 90's in Tony Parrish. Man could you imagine Tony Parrish on the 2023 49ers Super Bowl team? Every Super Bowl winning team has had a game changing Safety from Ed Reed to Rodney Harrison to CJ Gardner-Johnson to Nick Emmanwori. I can't wait to see the 9ers get a Safety like those mentioned.

You must not be Polynesian


2 time All-Pro and just turned 26 last month

He was a real liability in coverage. One f the most overrated players in recent history. If the team thought highly of him, they'd have paid him.

Yeah and the guys who replaced him are real upgrades in coverage lol. Weird to be overrated as a first team all pro and then what; be overrated again by being an all pro with the new team? They sure thought highly of him and made him the very first or second safety to be paid in free agency and I don't think the Broncos or its fan base have any complaints about the decision.

They thought highly of Aiyuk and paid him instead…….hows that working out for us?

If you think that guy is a game changing safety, I feel sorry for you. He's a decent strong safety who takes poor angles and is a bit slow to react. I remember having game changing safeties, and it has been awhile, especially at the FS position. Probably Merton Hanks long ago.

Originally posted by Memphis9er:

Originally posted by 49ers808:

Originally posted by Memphis9er:

Originally posted by 49ers808:

Originally posted by Kolohe:
You need a solid Safety if you're gonna win a Super Bowl. 49ers have had some good Safeties, but only had one great Safety since the 90's in Tony Parrish. Man could you imagine Tony Parrish on the 2023 49ers Super Bowl team? Every Super Bowl winning team has had a game changing Safety from Ed Reed to Rodney Harrison to CJ Gardner-Johnson to Nick Emmanwori. I can't wait to see the 9ers get a Safety like those mentioned.

You must not be Polynesian


2 time All-Pro and just turned 26 last month

He was a real liability in coverage. One f the most overrated players in recent history. If the team thought highly of him, they'd have paid him.

Yeah and the guys who replaced him are real upgrades in coverage lol. Weird to be overrated as a first team all pro and then what; be overrated again by being an all pro with the new team? They sure thought highly of him and made him the very first or second safety to be paid in free agency and I don't think the Broncos or its fan base have any complaints about the decision.

They thought highly of Aiyuk and paid him instead…….hows that working out for us?

If you think that guy is a game changing safety, I feel sorry for you. He's a decent strong safety who takes poor angles and is a bit slow to react. I remember having game changing safeties, and it has been awhile, especially at the FS position. Probably Merton Hanks long ago.

That's a long damn time to go without a ball hawking safety.

Alright you islanders, what yall know about this athletic freak Kapena Gushiken from Kamehameha High?

Originally posted by adrianlesnar:
Alright you islanders, what yall know about this athletic freak Kapena Gushiken from Kamehameha High?

Gotta be completely honest….not much. I remember a little from his high school days in the news but you already hit what was talked about the most, very athletic. He's also supposedly a very hard worker and big student of the game.

I know more about the other Hawaiian, his teammate Stribling. WR. I think he's someone who will go early day three whereas Kapena will likely go undrafted. That pro day does give him a shot to be drafted though; eye popping numbers.

As a biased Hawaiian I welcome both and would love to get both 🤙🏾

@adrian

My turn; did you watch Zakee Wheatley yet? What are your thoughts on him? I love the kid and think he would satisfy what we all have been wanting in that perfect centerfield ball-hawking type. His 4.62 40 time is worrisome, and that was at pro day where you can probably add some time to that, but this gives me some hope that it drops him some.

Not sure he makes it all the way to our fourth round pick though, but that's where I would try and get him.

Originally posted by 49ers808:
@adrian

My turn; did you watch Zakee Wheatley yet? What are your thoughts on him? I love the kid and think he would satisfy what we all have been wanting in that perfect centerfield ball-hawking type. His 4.62 40 time is worrisome, and that was at pro day where you can probably add some time to that, but this gives me some hope that it drops him some.

Not sure he makes it all the way to our fourth round pick though, but that's where I would try and get him.

He was in a lot of my early Mocks. Really surprised that he ran that slow...looks really rangey in pads. I thought he was a safety that you could feel comfortable with being further detached from the line..he really breaks down field from deeper alignments. I think he's a little skinny, but good size none the less, and doesnt seem to shy away from contact. To me, he fits a team need.

My guy at safety tho is VJ Payne

The more i look at the current board the more i like taking EMW with our pick at 27 i think he is going to be BPA and is a need. For those that havent seen him play he is a really fun watch

He has great height and length is good in coverage and an excellent in run defense. He may struggle in man coverage against those faster/ twitchier WR but can easily handle TE and larger slot WR. Also good in zone coverage. He isnt exactly a ballhawk and doesnt have the speed to play single high but is good enough to get a few int a year. He also has forced 9 fumbles which is absoutly insane he has mastered the peanut punch it would not surprise me if he gets 1-2 of those a year.

He will be a great box safety.

My dream would be to double dip in S and pair him with a single high type of S like Bud Clark or Taafe in round 4. this would completely remake the secondary for us

Originally posted by ritz126:
The more i look at the current board the more i like taking EMW with our pick at 27 i think he is going to be BPA and is a need. For those that havent seen him play he is a really fun watch

He has great height and length is good in coverage and an excellent in run defense. He may struggle in man coverage against those faster/ twitchier WR but can easily handle TE. Also good in zone coverage. He isnt exactly a ballhawk but is good enough to get a few int a year. He also has forced 9 fumbles which is absoutly insane he has mastered the peanut punch it would not surprise me if he gets 1-2 of those a year.

He will be a great box safety.

My dream would be to double dip in S and pair him with a single high type of S like Bud Clark or Taafe in round 4. this would completely remake the secondary for us

I like EMW but he is a box SS and we need a ball-hawking center fielder FS (Stukes/Clark). That being said I love Jalon Kilgore who is a SS but he going to be gone by #127 and not worth #58 so if we picked EMW at #27 not gonna be pissed as I like the player and I want badly to upgrade the secondary (even at CB too). And he is a unique prospect.

So many players I'd be fine with at #27...

EMW
Iheanachor
Cooper Jr
KC
Lawrence
Howell
McDonald
C. Miller
Mesidor (I'm taking him over everyone not named Sadiq)
Pregnon

But if we drafted EMW at #27 and Bud Clark (I like him a lot more than Taaffe) fell to #127 we should rush up the card and have our two starting S for a long time. I like Mustapha but EMW takes his job and we see if we can deal him for a 2027 4th/5th or he remains great depth.

Originally posted by Memphis9er:

Originally posted by 49ers808:

Originally posted by Memphis9er:

Originally posted by 49ers808:

Originally posted by Kolohe:
You need a solid Safety if you're gonna win a Super Bowl. 49ers have had some good Safeties, but only had one great Safety since the 90's in Tony Parrish. Man could you imagine Tony Parrish on the 2023 49ers Super Bowl team? Every Super Bowl winning team has had a game changing Safety from Ed Reed to Rodney Harrison to CJ Gardner-Johnson to Nick Emmanwori. I can't wait to see the 9ers get a Safety like those mentioned.

You must not be Polynesian


2 time All-Pro and just turned 26 last month

He was a real liability in coverage. One f the most overrated players in recent history. If the team thought highly of him, they'd have paid him.

Yeah and the guys who replaced him are real upgrades in coverage lol. Weird to be overrated as a first team all pro and then what; be overrated again by being an all pro with the new team? They sure thought highly of him and made him the very first or second safety to be paid in free agency and I don't think the Broncos or its fan base have any complaints about the decision.

They thought highly of Aiyuk and paid him instead…….hows that working out for us?

If you think that guy is a game changing safety, I feel sorry for you. He's a decent strong safety who takes poor angles and is a bit slow to react. I remember having game changing safeties, and it has been awhile, especially at the FS position. Probably Merton Hanks long ago.

His contract says otherwise. 2 time all pro says otherwise.

He has 6 interceptions and 25 pass breakups and 325 tackles in 5 years.

Kid (just turned 25 years old) must be doing something right coming into the NFL as a 5th round pick.

Originally posted by glorydayz:

Originally posted by Memphis9er:

Originally posted by 49ers808:

Originally posted by Memphis9er:

Originally posted by 49ers808:

Originally posted by Kolohe:
You need a solid Safety if you're gonna win a Super Bowl. 49ers have had some good Safeties, but only had one great Safety since the 90's in Tony Parrish. Man could you imagine Tony Parrish on the 2023 49ers Super Bowl team? Every Super Bowl winning team has had a game changing Safety from Ed Reed to Rodney Harrison to CJ Gardner-Johnson to Nick Emmanwori. I can't wait to see the 9ers get a Safety like those mentioned.

You must not be Polynesian


2 time All-Pro and just turned 26 last month

He was a real liability in coverage. One f the most overrated players in recent history. If the team thought highly of him, they'd have paid him.

Yeah and the guys who replaced him are real upgrades in coverage lol. Weird to be overrated as a first team all pro and then what; be overrated again by being an all pro with the new team? They sure thought highly of him and made him the very first or second safety to be paid in free agency and I don't think the Broncos or its fan base have any complaints about the decision.

They thought highly of Aiyuk and paid him instead…….hows that working out for us?

If you think that guy is a game changing safety, I feel sorry for you. He's a decent strong safety who takes poor angles and is a bit slow to react. I remember having game changing safeties, and it has been awhile, especially at the FS position. Probably Merton Hanks long ago.

His contract says otherwise. 2 time all pro says otherwise.

He has 6 interceptions and 25 pass breakups and 325 tackles in 5 years.

Kid (just turned 25 years old) must be doing something right coming into the NFL as a 5th round pick.

at the time it made sense Aiyuk was a top 10 WR and top 3 in effiency standpoint. Hufanga was great but he missed significant time 2 years in a row.

The 49ers met with Utah State DB Ike Larsen at his Pro Day,