49ers DB coach Daniel Bullocks has been impressed with Malik Mustapha’s work ethic

Plus, Bullocks spoke about Deommodore Lenoir’s positional versatility and the jump he made in 2023.

OTAs are in full swing for the San Francisco 49ers, and that means position coaches get a chance to gush about their players. We don’t get the opportunity to hear from them as much during the regular season, so we’ll highlight anything that stands out during the offseason.

On Wednesday, defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks was one of the coaches to speak. One player he lit up when talking about was cornerback Deommodore Lenoir. Bullocks was asked about the jump D-Mo made from 2022 to the 2023 season and if there was a preference he had positionally for Lenoir:

“As long as he’s one the field, I’m good. It gives us a weapon. We know that we can put him inside and match up against good receivers in the slot. And also, he can play outside. If he’s outside, that means we can bring somebody else in, like Renardo Green, Sammy Womack, Chase Lucas, Kemon Hall, and all the guys we’ve been repping at nickel.

He gives us that versatility and gives our defense that flexibility to do what we need to do on the personnel back end that we see every week.”

Lenoir is the definition of versatile. Of his 1,198 snaps last season —which shouldn’t be taken for granted— 648 of those came as a perimeter cornerback, and 418 came in the slot. But he moved around much more than that. PFF had Lenoir down for 30 snaps at defensive line and three others at free safety.

Here’s Bullocks on the leap Lenoir made:

“I’ll say, mentally, he made his biggest jump. I think the game slowed down for him. He played outside and inside. He did a hell of a job inside at nickel. He’s done an unbelievable job outside. The thing that jumps off on tape his is playmaking on the ball. I think he had three INTs and ten PBUs. He got his hands on a lot of balls last year. Give him credit. He put in the work every day.”

Lenoir’s spot is solidified in the 49ers secondary. Rookie safety Malik Mustapha needs to prove to the coaching staff he’s worthy of playing early in his career. Here’s Bullocks on what he’s seen from the safety out of Wake Forest:

“Everything that I’ve seen on tape. A guy that plays fast, physical, violent. The thing is, he’s very smart. He has a strong work ethic. I definitely can say that. Sometimes, he beats me to my office, already, as a rookie. I’m like, ‘dude, what are you still doing here?’ So it says a lot about who he is. He’s a very smart player.

When I look at him, he’s built..I wish I had a body like he does, especially up top. He’s a guy that has good feet and good hips. He’s a very fluid athlete. You wouldn’t think of that for a guy who is that stout. He’s got fluid hips, he’s very smart, he’s versatile. He does a lot of things on the back end when you watch the tape. He can come down in the box and bang, he can blitz. He’s one of the best tackling DBs in the draft.

What we prefer as a defense, you want guys who can tackle. When I tell guys what’s your number one stat, your number one stat is going to be tackles. So you need a guy who can tackle and who has the right mindset. We need guys who can tackle, guys who can come down on the slot, can play Cover 2, can play half, can play in the post. That’s something that he played at Wake Forest. Not a lot of it, but he did put it on tape. I’m excited about him. He’s getting better each and every day every time he’s on the field.”

If Mustapha’s play is as impressive as his work ethic, he won’t have to wait long until he’s playing prominent snaps on defense.