Jaquiski Tartt

Tartt was bitten by the injury bug yet again in 2020, playing in just seven contests and finishing with 30 tackles and one interception. The 29-year-old was given a one-year deal to stay in San Francisco, as his talent plays well in defensive coordinator Demeco Ryans' zone scheme. Tartt will try for the seventh time to log a full 16-game season while beginning the year as the 49ers' starting strong safety.

Tartt is a talented strong safety who can play down in the box while also not becoming a liability in coverage. Like fellow starting safety Jimmy Ward, the 28-year-old's shortcomings have come in the form of an inability to stay healthy. The Samford product failed to suit up for all 16 regular-season contests for the fifth consecutive season, but he still finished with respectable totals of 48 tackles (34 solo), two passes defensed, a half sack and a forced fumble in the 12 games he did suit up for. Tartt will be entering a contract year in 2020 and is unchallenged for the starting strong safety role, so he'll try to overcome the injury-prone tag he has earned over the first five years of his professional career.

Tartt had his second consecutive injury-shortened season, logging 42 tackles (32 solo) in just eight games before landing on IR with a shoulder injury. The 27-year-old has shown athleticism and an ability to both play in the box or as a free safety when asked. Health is the only thing holding him back from being a consistent IDP option, as he has the potential to sniff the 100-tackle mark over the course of a 16-game season. The 49ers did not add any notable safety help during the draft or via free agency, so Tartt should find himself starting Week 1, health permitting.

San Francisco's uptempo offense runs up the play counts in most games, which led to Tartt carrying an enormous play count before suffering a season-ending forearm fracture last year. He played 577 snaps in his first eight games, putting him on pace to be among the league leaders in the category. As a result, Tartt is one of the best bets on this list to hit triple-digit tackles. He doesn't seem to do much else – nine passes defensed in three years means he's not getting to the ball – but that tackle production alone could play as DB1 utility.

In his first two seasons with the 49ers, Tartt has started as a backup, only to finish the year as a starter due to injuries. The song remains the same in 2017 with Eric Reid expected to start at strong safety and Jimmie Ward moving back to his natural spot at free safety, leaving the 2015 second-round draft pick to be used situationally in the secondary as well as on special teams. Both Reid and Ward have justifiably earned their "injury-prone" labels, though, so Tartt could end up starting again at some point this season while gaining IDP value as a source of tackles.

The 2015 second-round pick started his rookie campaign as a backup, but he was forced into action when Antoine Bethea went down with a shoulder injury mid-season. He ended the campaign with 65 tackles and an interception, but 53 of those tackles came in nine games when he began filling in for Bethea. With the latter starting the 2016 healthy, Tartt will move back into a backup role and be the first safety called upon should any of the starters go down to injury.

Tartt is a physical specimen, but he will find it hard to see much playing time in his rookie season barring an injury to either Eric Reid or Antoine Bethea.