The 49ers considered a Tashaun Gipson reunion this offseason but stood down, and the veteran safety’s ensuing suspension put his career in limbo. Now that the Jaguars have moved on, however, the Niners are back in.
Gipson is joining San Francisco’s practice squad, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Released on Monday, Gipson found a familiar landing spot. The 13th-year defender spent the past two seasons with the 49ers, and he will return to the Bay Area to provide some insurance.
Now 34, Gipson has not played since his previous 49ers stint ended. The Jags added him in August, shortly after word of the PED suspension surfaced. Jacksonville cut Gipson, who had played three seasons with the club (2016-18), rather than move him onto its 53-man roster. Gipson now has a path back to the 49ers’ active unit.
Talanoa Hufanga remains on IR but is in play to return from his latest injury — a wrist issue — this season. Though, it is not a lock that occurs. Gipson started alongside Hufanga for two seasons, impressing in 2022 by intercepting five passes for DeMeco Ryans‘ unit. Gipson started all 33 regular-season games he played from 2022-23, providing the 49ers with stability.
The team has used 2023 third-round pick Ji’Ayir Brown and rookie Malik Mustapha as its starting safeties as of late, with Hufanga running into the wrist trouble not long after the 49ers activated him from the PUP list. The 2022 All-Pro was not available for the team’s stretch run last season, suffering an ACL tear. With Hufanga’s return timeline uncertain, the 49ers will add a player with their scheme. San Francisco now houses significant experience at safety on its taxi squad, having Adrian Amos there as well.
San Francisco cut Anders Carlson from its P-squad to make room, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. Carlson kicked in two games for the defending NFC champions this season, being one of the team’s Jake Moody fill-in options. As Moody moves closer to returning, the 49ers cutting Carlson brings a good sign the 2023 third-round pick will be ready to return following the team’s recent bye.
By adding Khalil Davis and T.Gipson the 49ers did am excellent job fortifying two of the weaker spots on their roster in terms of their depth.
Their main additions will be coming by some of their best players getting healthy. CMC, J.Jennings, J.Feliciano, possibly T.Hufanga and especially Dre Greenlaw.
CMC can help create a three-headed monster with a healthy Mason, who can now continue initiating contact because he won’t be worried about his hurt shoulder, and they’ll still have the emerging Isaac Guerendo who looks like hes shot out of a cannon when he hits the hole. Where CMC can significantly help the 49ers is in the red zone, and that will be a huge benefit to their offense. All too often we have watched the 49ers easily go up and down the field only to have their drive stall in the red area. That should be partially remedied by having CMC, Pearsall healthy and gaining experience and confidence, having a healthy Jennings, and getting Kittle more red zone targets as well.
Feliciano will primarily be a backup, but he’s as solid as they come for a 6th OL, and if they suffer any injuries along the line he should be able to fill in and keep their offensive success going.
Hufanga has been banged up all year, so this is where having Gipson really helps their depth now. Idk if Huf is coming back, but he should not even consider it unless he’s 100% healthy. We saw him play hurt and at a slower pace earlier this year, and he just wasn’t the same player. Gipson knows the defense like the back of his hand, and he rarely ever blows an assignment or makes a mistake. He might not consistently make any huge splash plays, but, if he is called upon, he can get the job done at a high level and in the meantime he can continue helping J.Brown and Malik Mustapha grow into a very solid duo.
Dre Greenlaw’s return is going to be huge for this defense, but it still remains to be seen how healthy and effective is he really going to be coming back from a major injury? I’m of the belief that even Greenlaw at 80% that’s a significant upgrade over Campbell. Teams are isolating Campbell and targeting him repeatedly in the passing game, and they’re having some excellent results when they do. He has played a little better as of late, but even right now I think Dee Winters should be playing over Campbell. I wouldn’t even mind him being released whenever Greenlaw comes back and proves he can stay healthy. If they use three LBs it should be Warner, Greenlaw, and Winters. Campbell shouldn’t be seeing the field, and that alone should be a huge upgrade for their defense as well.
Even by getting Jake Moody back, their kickoff unit should be significantly improved by actually having someone that can kick it out of the endzone. I know that seems like something extremely minor, but the 49ers have been getting washed on kickoff returns, and it has led to their opponents getting excellent field position. It is also a momentum killer having the other team make a big return right after you score.
Khalil Davis will help make up for the loss of Hargrave, and he’s precisely the type of guy they’ve been needing. Most importantly, he is going to add another capable, solid body to their interior of their DL, and they need these guys to be able to rotate in and out and keep guys fresh. As of now, you can see guys getting gassed late in games, and with Givens returning, Collins being a standout player thus far, Kalia Davis getting healthy afyer a stellar offseason and pre-season, Jordan Elliot being a decent option, Evan Anderson emerging and earning more snaps and the staffs trust, and Khalil Davis’ addition this should be a very deep and dependable unit moving forward.
The 49ers probably could have afforded to add another capable body at the EDGE spot to help spell Bosa, Floyd, and Sam O, but overall I think they did a good job covering some holes with their awaiting the returns of several key contributors.
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