The San Francisco 49ers were clearly thrilled at the opportunity to get safety Ji’Ayir Brown in the third round, however, nine games into their season, the Niners’ top pick in the 2023 draft has been conspicuous by his absence, at least on defense.

Brown has spent his rookie year predominantly consigned to special teams work. He has played only 30 snaps on defense during garbage time compared to 137 on special teams.

Impressive in preseason, Brown’s playmaking ability at Penn State suggested he would be a player the 49ers would look to get on the field early and often by potentially deploying some three-safety looks.

Yet he has been a spectator as All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga and veteran Tashaun Gipson have reprised their partnership after an excellent 2022, leading defensive coordinator Steve Wilks to be questioned on Brown’s lack of involvement in his Thursday press conference.

Wilks’ answer hinted that Brown could see more action down the stretch.

“It’s funny, we’re just talking about him on the last play of practice. He’s progressing, gotten a whole lot better. When you really look at the college season, it’s pretty much over, right? You’re probably getting ready for conference play and bowl games. So he’s really had that full year and you can really see his confidence and how he moves around at practice, just the way he communicates and those kind of things, that he’s gotten better with this year. So I’m excited about him moving forward and any time we can get those guys into the game, it’s just only going to continue to help develop them.”

The key part of Wilks’ response is his reference to the college season. First-year players often hit ‘the rookie wall’, suffering a drop-off in form as their body struggles to adapt to playing a full NFL regular season after playing collegiate campaigns that, save for bowl games, end in late November.

By keeping him on special teams and away from more rigorous assignments on defense, the 49ers have likely succeeded in keeping Brown fresh. It’s difficult to hit a rookie wall if you barely play in the first half of the season, so the Brown should be in shape for a potential infusion into the lineup down the stretch.

Brown is an extremely versatile safety who can line up all over the field and possesses excellent eye discipline and awareness that allowed him to record 10 interceptions in college. Fittingly for a 49er safety, he excels playing downhill and impressed as a blitzer in college, racking up nine tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks for Penn State.

San Francisco has some huge challenges on the horizon, with two games with the Seattle Seahawks that could decide the NFC West sandwiched by an NFC Championship Game rematch with the Philadelphia Eagles following Sunday’s clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

As such, the 49ers might be reluctant to throw Brown into the mix too often. However, a defense that prospered through the use of greater variety in last week’s blowout of the Jacksonville Jaguars could benefit from giving opponents an extra threat to think about in the form of a playmaking safety who can wreak havoc near the line of scrimmage and cover from multiple spots on the field.

Brown was clearly a pick made with the future in mind, and he will likely take over from Gipson as the starting free safety next year, but don’t rule out him having a belated rookie impact in the final weeks of the regular season.

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