These 49ers have impressed us most over first 4 weeks of 2022

49ers Standout No. 3: Safety Tashaun Gipson

Sometimes, success comes from the most unlikely of circumstances. Between the uncertainty at strong safety and the injury to Jimmie Ward at free safety, it looks like the position would be the Achilles heel of the defense.

Seriously, 49ers fans would have been screaming in frustration, tearing their hair out and making sacrifices to the football gods. Justifiably so.

Between Talanoa Hufanga and Tashaun Gipson, it’s not only been a strength, but one has to wonder if Ward even returns to safety when he comes back or whether he’ll go to nickel back to allow the Gipson-Hufanga partnership to continue to shine.

Gipson has been a reliable veteran presence at safety and has kept the top of the field secure. Teams have tried to attack it, and none have succeeded.

If there was any complaint, it would be dropped interceptions. He’s dropped enough that he could be leading the league if he held onto them. But that’s a minor complaint. He’s been exceptional, a masterstroke of a cheap pickup by the Niners.

What was once the biggest weakness has turned into a relative strength for the team. Hufanga and Gipson have been the success story we didn’t even know we were in for.