San Francisco 49ers: Who is safety Malik Golden?
By Peter Panacy
Niner Noise’s “Who Is?” series on 2017 San Francisco 49ers players rolls out our next installment on undrafted free-agent pickup, safety Malik Golden.
The San Francisco 49ers must have felt pretty good about former Penn State safety Malik Golden, signing him to a three-year deal as an undrafted free agent this offseason.
Golden played both the free and strong safety positions at Penn State, but primarily saw action closer to the box.
His best season was his senior year, where he registered 75 total tackles — six for a loss — and one interception:
| Tack | Tack | Tack | Tack | Tack | Def | Def | Def | Def | Def | Fumb | Fumb | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Class | Pos | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | FR | FF |
| 2013 | Penn State | FR | S | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| *2014 | Penn State | SO | S | 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| *2015 | Penn State | JR | S | 11 | 17 | 23 | 40 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Penn State | SR | S | 13 | 48 | 27 | 75 | 6.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Career | Penn State | 72 | 58 | 130 | 6.5 | 0.0 | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 5/26/2017.
At 6-foot-0 and 205 pounds, Golden has the prototypical size for a safety. And the experience at both safety positions makes him an intriguing depth option for the Niners in 2017.
San Francisco has its starting safeties likely set. Jimmie Ward will lock down the free safety spot, with Eric Reid dropping into the box as strong safety.
But both Ward and Reid have injury histories, and the necessity to have good coverage safeties in a Cover 3 scheme will be paramount to the 49ers success this season.
That’s where Golden comes into play.
Why He’ll Improve
Golden is best known for his run-stopping abilities, and some of those can be seen in the DraftBreakdown.com video below:
On a number of plays, Golden is lined up in the strong safety spot and drops down into the box to stop ball carriers near the line of scrimmage. It’s probably why he posted six tackles for a loss last season, and this should entice a Niners defense that ranked dead last in the league against the run last year.
The ability to double as a single-high safety could also work, as Golden’s speed should be able to match up with faster receivers at the NFL level.
Why He’ll Regress
As NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein pointed out, Golden’s biggest issues are his tackling fundamentals and deep-ball coverage skills.
This is reflected in the stats. Golden registered just two interceptions over his collegiate career, which suggests he’s not much of a ballhawk.
There’s also something to be said about Golden slated as either a free or strong safety. While he’s not exactly bad at either area, he’s not particularly good either. It’s almost a “tweener” of sorts; not in size, per se, but in ability.
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What to Expect in 2017
San Francisco’s depth chart at safety is pretty deep already. Golden’s primary competition is likely with veteran Vinnie Sunseri and rookies Lorenzo Jerome and James Chanceller. All these guys are competing for spots behind Ward, Reid and Jaquiski Tartt.
Golden’s best chances to hang around likely fall on the practice squad, where he may have a chance to hone his coverage skills and develop his tackling technique.
Next: 49ers' winners & losers from first week of OTAs
A guess would have Jerome making the roster as a No. 4 safety. Golden is still too much a developmental project to warrant consideration for a spot on the 53-man roster.