49ers fans know Malik Mustapha's name very well, and it's time the national media pays more attention to the 2024 rookie, too.
It's too bad second-year San Francisco 49ers safety Malik Mustapha is likely to miss the opening of the 2025 season after suffering a torn ACL in the Niners' Week 18 finale last January.
Had he avoided the injury, Mustapha would have been capable of a notably quicker ascent toward the ranks of household names across the NFL world.
As far as underappreciated players go, San Francisco fans certainly need no reminder. The Faithful had plenty of opportunities to watch the former fourth-round draftee's hard-hitting ways over the course of his rookie season, all of which suggest he'll be a mainstay on the 49ers defense for years to come.
Despite the injury woes, it appears as if Mustapha is finally starting to earn some much-deserved national recognition.
NFL.com tabs Malik Mustapha as 49ers' most underappreciated player
Combing through all 32 teams, NFL.com's Tom Blair and Gennaro Filice named each squad's most underappreciated player entering 2025.
Considering you're here on this article, you've probably realized whom the duo picked for the Niners.
If you said Mustapha, you win the award:
"In order to balance the books, you need to roster viable starters on cost-controlled rookie contracts. The 49ers found one of those in the fourth round of last year’s draft, with Mustapha immediately making his presence felt as a violent playmaker. Unfortunately, as if the Niners didn’t suffer enough of an injury-riddled Super Bowl hangover last year, we recently discovered that Mustapha hurt his ACL in San Francisco’s season finale. This puts his availability for the start of the 2025 campaign in question. He still gets shine here, though, because I self-consciously feel like I personally underappreciated the safety by completely omitting him from last season’s rookie rankings. This dude’s punishing play style is too endearing to go unrecognized!"
Mustapha's return from injury remains up the air, and San Francisco subsequently responded by drafting Kansas State defensive back Marques Sigle, who has an opportunity to be an immediate plug-and-play fill-in for last year's rookie.
Once the former returns from injury, the hope is for him and Sigle to create a dynamic one-two pairing at the last line of the 49ers defense.
If that goes well, Mustapha likely rises from the ranks of underappreciated to fully appreciated.
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