Why Ji'Ayir Brown Will Be the 49ers' Most Improved Player in 2024

Brown is such a talented ballhawk, don't be surprised if he intercepts five or six passes this season and goes to the Pro Bowl. He's that good.

Grant Cohn | Jul 15, 2024

Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers safety Ji'Ayir Brown (27) intercepts a pass intended for Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling (11) in the second half in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports / Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

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San Francisco 49ers

Last season, the 49ers' most improved player was cornerback Deommodore Lenoir. He established himself as one of the most versatile corners in the NFL because he can play outside and in the slot equally well.

This season, the 49ers' most improved player will be someone else from the secondary -- second-year safety Ji'Ayir Brown. Last year, Brown replaced Talanoa Hufanga at strong safety after Hufanga went down for the season with a torn ACL. So Brown was playing slightly out of position because he's a free safety, not a strong safety.

Brown didn't make any plays behind the line of scrimmage last season, which is something top-level strong safeties usually do. But he did establish himself as a bonafide ball hawk in deep zone coverage. He had two interceptions in the regular season and one in the Super Bowl which could have been the defining play of the game if the offense didn't immediately go 3-and-out in Chiefs territory afterward.

This season, Brown gets to play free safety next to an All Pro strong safety in Talanoa Hufanga who should make Brown even better. Those two should complement each other considering Hufanga is at his best when he's close to the line of scrimmage and Brown is at his best when he's in center field. They should cover up each other's weaknesses.

Brown is such a talented ballhawk, don't be surprised if he intercepts five or six passes this season and goes to the Pro Bowl. He's that good.

Published Jul 15, 2024|Modified Jul 15, 2024

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.