Former 49ers 3rd-round pick tabbed as breakout candidate in 4th season
· Yahoo Sports
The San Francisco 49ers have a battle brewing at safety where no players on the depth chart have separated themselves as surefire starters at either of the two safety positions. One player in that mix to grab a starting job is 2023 third-round pick Ji'Ayir Brown, who was also tabbed by Fox Sports as a breakout candidate entering the final year of his rookie deal.
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Brown enters the fourth and final season of his rookie contract in a bit of a strange place. He has 26 starts in 34 games played over the last two seasons, but he wasn't the Week 1 starter in 2025 and he played only sparingly until Week 6.
Once he did get on the field, Brown wasn't particularly effective. He did haul in a pair of interceptions in a win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 12, but outside of that he struggled. Pro Football Focus had him down for 12 missed tackles and a career-worst 15.8 percent missed tackle rate. He was also tagged with six touchdowns allowed, and now has more TDs allowed (10) than pass breakups (9) in his career per the analytics site.
While the numbers may fluctuate depending on the source, those figures match the eye test where virtually every combination of safety the 49ers rolled out had a difficult time elevating the 49ers secondary. However, as Fox Sports' Ben Arthur pointed out, improvements across the 49ers defense may help Brown be more impactful in 2026.
Via Fox Sports:
Reinforcements on the San Francisco 49ers' defensive front in 2026 (linebacker Fred Warner and edge rusher Nick Bosa returning from injury; bringing linebacker Dre Greenlaw back; trading for defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa) will create more playmaking opportunities on the back end for Brown.
A breakout campaign from Brown would be a massive lift for the 49ers, especially if it's the result of a dramatically improved pass rush. As rough as the secondary was a season ago it paled in comparison to the issues the 49ers had affecting the quarterback.
For San Francisco the breakout season from Brown would help in the immediate, but it isn't likely to make any changes to whether they'll re-sign him in free agency. They haven't prioritized the position under head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, and one big season from Brown probably isn't enough to make them change their minds.
For Brown, on the other hand, a breakout year could mean a big offseason payday in his first trip through free agency.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers S Ji'Ayir Brown a breakout candidate as rookie contract ends