One of the bigger apparent needs the San Francisco 49ers had entering the 2026 NFL Draft was to find a new safety, preferably someone with the ranginess to patrol the very last line of defense.
It's not an ideal job for the two veteran incumbents, Ji'Ayir Brown and Malik Mustapha, who are better poised for working closer to the box. And 2025 rookie Marques Sigle might not yet be equipped enough to handle those duties either.
Yet the Niners opted not to draft a safety, perhaps because no one they liked was available at each of their eight picks, or maybe even defensive coordinator Raheem Morris felt he could work with the current options on the roster.
Morris has a wild card, however.
Of San Francisco's eight undrafted free-agent pickups, one certainly stands out above the rest: Notre Dame safety Jalen Stroman.
Stroman easily could have been drafted on day three, and it wouldn't have come as a major shock. Slipping through all seven rounds, the 49ers subsequently grabbed him and added the 6-foot-1 defensive back to the roster.
Jalen Stroman might be 49ers' best UDFA signing
The bulk of the Niners' other UDFAs likely all round out the depth chart for training camp; few have any legitimate chances of making the final 53-man cut by Week 1.
Stroman, thanks largely to the lack of depth behind Brown, Mustapha and Sigle, has a bit better of a track to hang around into the regular season, perhaps even carving himself out a significant role.
Heck, an interception returned for a touchdown during his 2025 campaign with the Fighting Irish might be a good indicator of playmaking abilities in the upcoming years.
That aside, though, Stroman is likely to receive a bit more practice time (and therefore attention) from coaches when practices roll around. It'd be another thing if he was with a third- or a fourth-string unit, getting two or three snaps per day.
But, with the lack of depth, Stroman should have no trouble seeing the field.
On top of that, should Morris opt to use more big-nickel (three safeties) sets on defense, it might be a case where San Francisco already has a role lined up for the undrafted rookie.
All he needs to do is capitalize on the opportunity.
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