The 49ers Should Start Ji'Ayir Brown After the Bye Week

The 49ers need to shake up their defense.

It looks slow and lifeless. It even looks old at times. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks seems to have no confidence in his secondary, and plays the cornerbacks nine yards off the line of scrimmage, and the safeties aren't making plays like he did last season.

It's time to play the 49ers' top draft pick this year, the free safety they traded up to get in Round 3 -- Ji'Ayir Brown.

Their current free safety, Tashaun Gipson, is 33, he has one interception this season, which was a gimmie pop fly from Dak Prescott, and he's seventh on the team in tackles. He's not making plays against the run or the pass. And he's going to be a free agent in the offseason. Which means he almost certainly won't be on the team next year.

The 49ers planned ahead for Gipson's decline -- that's why they traded up for Brown. They knew Gipson was getting older and potentially slower and would be gone in 2024. So they spent their first draft pick this year on his eventual replacement.

It makes sense why the 49ers would start Gipson the first half of the season -- he's a veteran, and Brown is still learning the defense. But Brown should know it by now. And if he does, he needs to start, because the 49ers need a spark in the secondary, not a slow safety playing out the final season of his career.

It's time to play the rookie.