49ers roster: 5 spicy position battles to watch during OTAs
By Peter Panacy
Position battle No. 2: 49ers strong safety
Unlike cornerback, the Niners don’t have a clear-cut answer at strong safety in the wake of letting their former long-time starter, Jaquiski Tartt, hit the free-agent market.
Tartt remains unsigned, but all indications point to San Francisco not bringing him back.
That leaves a modest amount of options at the position to play alongside veteran free safety Jimmie Ward. And while each one of those options has a positive rationale behind it, there are just as many concerns, too.
One of the presumed favorites, defensive back Tarvarius Moore, is coming off a torn Achilles suffered during the offseason a year ago. He might be fully recovered, but is he ready for full-time starting duties after being a role player in each of his years at the pro level leading up to his injury?
The 49ers could also explore deploying one of their other veteran safeties, Talanoa Hufanga or George Odum, as a starter. But Hufanga’s coverage skills during his rookie 2021 season weren’t particularly great, while Odum also is more of a special teams ace over his four previous years in the NFL.
Heck, perhaps undrafted free-agent safety Leon O’Neal Jr. out of Texas A&M makes a splash.
Unlike the bulk of positions on this list so far, the starting strong safety spot on the roster is wide open for grabs.