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Malik Mustapha Impresses 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan in First Preseason Game

The 49ers drafted Mustapha in Round 4 this year with the draft pick they acquired when they traded Trey Lance to the Cowboys.

Grant Cohn

Feb 29, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Wake Forest defensive back Malik Mustapha (DB55) talks to the media during the 2024 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 29, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Wake Forest defensive back Malik Mustapha (DB55) talks to the media during the 2024 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
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SANTA CLARA -- One of the most impressive players in the 49ers' first preseason game was rookie safety Malik Mustapha.

He made three eye-popping plays. First, he blasted running back Julius Chestnut after a three-yard gain to prevent what could have been a big play. Next, he tackled running back Hassan Haskins for no gain on fourth and 1 to force a turnover on downs. Finally, he destroyed Kearis Jackson during a kick return.

"I loved how he played," said head coach Kyle Shanahan. "You could see how he did it on special teams. He had no hesitation. He's a hitter, but sometimes guys get in that first game and they slow down a little bit and he was the opposite. He showed up on special teams. He showed up on a third and two, they got to our middle third player, which usually is at least an explosive and he met him at three yards, which is huge. The goal line stand was an unbelievable play. We had a missed assignment, so we had no edge player. So, he was actually the middle third guy and just filled it real fast in a blink and he knows how to hit. So, it was nice the guy went backwards.”

The 49ers drafted Mustapha in Round 4 this year with the draft pick they acquired when they traded Trey Lance to the Cowboys. Through two weeks of training camp, Mustapha has played exclusively with the backups, but if he continues to impress, he could become a starter sooner rather than later.

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Grant Cohn

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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