According to NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco, rookie safety Marques Sigle will start for the San Francisco 49ers in their Week 1 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. This marks the first time a rookie has opened the season at safety for the 49ers since Eric Reid in 2013.


The 49ers selected Sigle in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Kansas State, and he quickly impressed during training camp and preseason action. Last week, head coach Kyle Shanahan declined to reveal who his starting safeties would be, as there was no real tactical advantage in doing so.


"I don't think [it's] a huge advantage. There could be a little advantage. I don't want to give any advantage," Shanahan explained when asked about his decision.

Sigle is expected to start alongside Jason Pinnock.

General manager John Lynch recently praised Sigle during an interview, revealing the rookie earned a special nickname during the team's pre-draft analysis.

"Last year, you talk analytics and things we look for, we have a metric we call Swarm, which is basically, when the ball's thrown, how fast do you get to the ball carrier?" Lynch said. "Last year, our analytics department sometimes will give these monikers or names. They said, 'Okay, we've got the Sultan of Swarm,' and that was [S] Malik Mustapha. Nobody in college football swarmed to the ball faster than Malik Mustapha.

"Well, this year, the Sultan of Swarm was Sigle. I think those things translate really well in our defense. He runs a 4.3 [second 40-yard dash], but I think anyone who's been watching our games, when you can run a 4.3, and you pack a punch, too, when you're striking people, which we've seen Sigle do—he's a really good open-field tackler—I think that's a good combination."

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