Malik Mustapha (born June 25, 2002) is an American professional football safety for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Richmond Spiders and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He was selected by the 49ers in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL draft.
| No. 6 – San Francisco 49ers | |||||||||
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| Position: | Safety | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | June 25, 2002 Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 206 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Weddington (Weddington, North Carolina) | ||||||||
| College: | Richmond (2020) Wake Forest (2021–2023) | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2024 / round: 4 / pick: 124 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 10, 2024 | |||||||||
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Early life
editMustapha is of Nigerian descent.[1][2] He attended Weddington High School in Weddington, North Carolina.[3] As a senior, he had 68 tackles and five interceptions. He committed to the University of Richmond to play college football.
College career
editMustapha played at Richmond for one year before transferring to Wake Forest University.[4] He played at Wake Forest from 2021 to 2023.[5][6] During his career, he had 175 tackles, three interceptions and four sacks over 35 games. Mustapha entered the 2024 NFL draft.
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 10+1⁄8 in (1.78 m) |
209 lb (95 kg) |
30+1⁄8 in (0.77 m) |
9 in (0.23 m) |
4.54 s | 1.58 s | 2.57 s | 41.5 in (1.05 m) |
10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) |
22 reps | |||
| All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day[7][8] | ||||||||||||
The San Francisco 49ers selected Mustapha with the 124th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL draft. The 124th pick had initially belonged to the Dallas Cowboys, who traded it to the 49ers in exchange for Trey Lance.[9]
Mustapha began his rookie season as a backup, but injuries sustained by Talanoa Hufanga soon thrust him into the starting role alongside second-year safety Ji'Ayir Brown.[10][11] In Week 4 he made his first start in a 30–13 victory over the New England Patriots.[12] Mustapha recorded his first career interception two weeks later during a Thursday night game against the Seattle Seahawks; the 49ers defeated the Seahawks 36–24.[13]
NFL career statistics
edit| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | PD | Int | Yds | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2024 | SF | 9 | 5 | 37 | 15 | 22 | 0.0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 9 | 5 | 37 | 15 | 22 | 0.0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
References
edit- ^ O'Carroll, Bailey (August 17, 2024). "San Francisco 49ers rookie Malik Mustapha credits young siblings for driving his dominant play". KTVU Fox Sports.
- ^ Solms, Leonard (October 22, 2024). "Seahawks' Boye Mafe back to his best as Nigeria stars in NFL week 7". ESPN.
- ^ O'Neill, Michael Wayne (September 21, 2022). "Former Weddington teammates compete this weekend". Enquirer Journal. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ Johns, Les (May 14, 2021). "BREAKING: Richmond transfer DB Malik Mustapha commits to Wake Forest". 247Sports.com. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ Snow, Jerry (December 24, 2022). "Weddington's Mustapha has 6 tackles in Wake Forest's bowl win". Enquirer Journal. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ Dell, John (December 5, 2023). "Wake Forest Notebook: Two Demon Deacons make Associated Press All-ACC second team". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
- ^ "Malik Mustapha Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
- ^ "2024 NFL Draft Scout Malik Mustapha College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
- ^ Madson, Kyle (April 27, 2024). "49ers add secondary help, select Wake Forest S Malik Mustapha with 124th overall pick". Niners Wire. USA Today. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- ^ Soria, Joel (October 9, 2024). "49ers GM Lynch impressed by Mustapha, compares him to Cardinals star". NBC Sports Bay Area.
- ^ Barrows, Matt (October 8, 2024). "Talanoa Hufanga's injury puts 49ers rookie Malik Mustapha in starting role". The Athletic.
- ^ Barrows, Matt (September 30, 2024). "49ers minutia minute: From Malik Mustapha to Evan Anderson, rookies played a big role in win". The Athletic.
- ^ Rodriguez, Tristi (October 10, 2024). "49ers rookie Mustapha reveals special plan for first career INT ball". NBC Sports Bay Area.