Safeties
Jaquiski Tartt - Jaquiski is an interesting study at safety. He is awful at coverage imo. Worse than Shanae Spencer was BUT, he is an incredible athlete and tackling machine. Maybe he tackles a little to hard because he tends to ring his own bell in the process. I have seen a few receivers get alligator arms after taking one of his hits and in a Saleh defense both the strong and free safeties in that defense must be capable tacklers to limit the big plays. When healthy Tartt is one of more underrated safeties in the league.
Skills: B+
Performance: B
Potential: B
Overall: B
Marcell Harris - 2018 All PRO ACL 6th round pick. Just kidding. He was 6th round pick and it seems Lynch may have been right to take a flyer on him. He was rough out there last year but I attribute that to rust as he was thrown out there due to every other player getting injured. He's had a great camp and he was impressive in the time he's shown on the field. If he doesn't start this season, he'll find time on the field in one way or the other.
Skills: B
Performance: C-
Potentia: A-
Overall: B-
Adrian Colbert - 2017 7th round draft pick. After having a stellar rookie year and a bad 2nd year, I think this could be the year where Colbert finds some balance. At 6'2 195 lbs, he is a physical presence on the field but with that that has led to a lot of penalties and getting burned when he misses a tackle. These problems are fixable though as he becomes better and learns to tackle clean as opposed for always using the hit stick. With that said I think the smart thing for Saleh to do is make him the primary backup for Jaquiski Tartt. He is more strong safety than free safety and also the last couple of defensive back drafts picks may be better suited than him to play free safety long term. Either way he has played well above his draft placement and should be a contributor for years to come.
Skills: B-
Performance: C
Potential: B
Overall: C+
Tarvarius Moore - 2018 3rd Round draft pick. While he only played in a couple of games due to injury and played at corner, he is being moved to safety again this year and it seems to pretty good effect. Moore is an elite athlete with speed rivaling Marquise Goodwin. When asked to cover, it never seems like the opposing receiver is too fast. At 6'2 and a lean 195 he has near elite size. If I could make an observation, I think his instincts and hands are just so-so, but I think he'll flourish at the position and become a very solid if not elite safety.
Skills: B
Perfomance: C
Potential: A-
Overall: B-
Jimmie Ward - 2014 1st round draft pick. Jimmie Ward has been a disappoint thus far in his career. Since has been drafted he has played an average of 10 games a season. If he wasn't a 1st round pick and if we weren't so thin in the defensive backfield, he would have been cut. Apparently due to the impressive play of Tarvarius Moore, there is a possibility that he could lose his place and honestly it would make more sense to keep him as a reserve. While he isn't spectacular at either corner or safety, his experience is invaluable and he can more or less plug himself in anywhere in the backfield if someone goes down.
Skills: B
Performance: C
Potential: C+
Overall: C+
Antone Exum Jr. - Former Minnesota Viking and budding musician, he provides solid depth at safety and is a very good special teams player. So long as he can doing that. He'll have a spot on the roster.
Skills: C
Performance; C
Potential: C+
Overall: C
Unit Analysis: I have one word for this group. INTERESTING. A lot of potential starters have experience at CB as well as being safeties. There is a lot of raw talent that can make impact plays. Again this will be dependent on the health of these guys. Every one of our starters at safety have something of an injury history. But this may be a league wide issue and not specific to the 49ers. Everyone is getting hurt it seems. Basically if this unit stays healthy this will be a solid committee of players.
Unit Grade: B-