The San Francisco 49ers drafted the most biblical name in the 2026 NFL Draft by selecting cornerback Ephesians Prysock in the fourth round out of the University of Washington. It’s been less than a month since San Francisco drafted him, and former Niners safety Donte Whitner is already urging Prysock to change positions.
On the latest episode of the Grit Code Podcast, Whitner thinks Prysock should become a free safety. Whitner was a strong safety for most of his career, so he knows the intricacies of the safety position better than most. Whiter said, "Go straight to the safeties room and learn the safety position. Start from the beginning safety position playing one on one."
It would be a pretty bold move by the Niners.
Prysock is obviously used to playing cornerback, so to shake things up and have him basically start from scratch at a new position could, in effect, render his rookie season something of a redshirt year as he figures things out at a new spot.
He had a solid college career for the Huskies, and while he didn’t generate a ton of turnovers, Prysock was very solid in pass defense and breaking up passes.
Prysock is tall at 6-foot-4 and has a wide wingspan, so those long arms certainly have to help in defending passes. Defensive backs usually aren’t that big, so it would be interesting to see how that height would translate to the safety position.
Certainly, the Niners could use more production at safety. Malik Mustapha, Ji’Ayir Brown, and Marques Sigle are the defense's main three options there right now, and they’ve all shown promise. But anyone who has watched the Niners in recent years knows there is room for improvement.
At the same time, it’s not as if the cornerback position is rock solid. While Deommodore Lenoir and Upton Stout are pretty safe bets, Renardo Green was not great last year, so if Prysock remains at cornerback, perhaps he could end up challenging Green for playing time even though it seems like the Niners are planning to give Green another shot.
It may come down to what position group the Niners feels like needs more help. Maybe that will become more clear during training camp, which could precipitate a change in position.
If San Francisco takes Whitner’s advice, it'd better be very sure, because if Prysock doesn’t take to the safety position, then it could ruin his development and make him a bust if it would have been better to just keep him at his natural position.
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