San Francisco 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga was a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and proved to be such a certified steal that the 24-year-old out of Oregon managed to earn first-team All-Pro honors in just his second season.
Unfortunately, Hufanga's encore performance to that highly entertaining, memorable campaign that saw him grab four interceptions (one for a pick-six), two forced fumbles, and two sacks, was sadly short-circuited by a torn ACL against the Buccaneers in Week 10. His noticeable presence was clearly missed down the stretch, especially considering the fourth-year safety appeared to be well on his way to eclipsing his interception tally from 2022, having notched three with seven games to go in the regular season.
But now, having worked his way back from a tough injury, and after making his first appearance of the 2024 season in Week 3, Hufanga seems to be bringing a whole different perspective and level of expectation when it comes to his play on the field.
On Tuesday, the 2022 Pro Bowler was a featured guest on KNBR's "Murph & Markus Morning Show," discussing a number of topics. However, his words about basically becoming a film junkie and watching every snap since his rookie season stood out the most.
"I have to hold myself to a higher standard," Hufanga explained. "Sometimes it takes an injury for you to go back and watch the film to the highest level. I watched every snap since my rookie year, and I was surprised ... There's plays that were left out there, plays to be made. I may have had a highlight, but why did it take me two or three plays to see it?"
This type of dedication to the film room—quite literally completely rewinding the tape—and indicating he could have done more when he had already done a lot, just amplifies the type of player that fans of the 49ers so quickly became accustomed to seeing on the field.
While no football player ever wants to go down with a torn ACL, Hufanga also seems to be grateful for the way the process was handled from all aspects.
"The type of people that I had in my corner," Hufanga said. "The training staff, the strength staff, the coaches. They made this process really easy for me. All I had to keep doing was showing up and I knew that would take care of the rest."
Realistically speaking, it might take a few more weeks, perhaps longer, to get that full Hufanga experience once again. But it would probably crazy not to expect to see it sooner than later.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan sounded pretty happy with what he saw from Hufanga on the field at SoFi Stadium, which is a nice splash of positivity following such a heartbreaking loss to the Rams.
"I thought it was a good first game back," Shanahan stated. "He wasn't at the point of attack too much, but he definitely made some plays in it, had a good tackle on the sidelines. And I think he held up pretty well. I haven't gotten to talk to him personally, but the film looked good."
Week 4 against the Patriots will mark Talanoa Hufanga's second start of the season and the 49ers will need every bit of whatever he's got to offer, because not a single person in the organization is ready to be staring at a record of 1-3. Nor should they be.
Particularly when the Cardinals, Seahawks, Chiefs and Cowboys will be waiting on deck as a somewhat ridiculous stretch of four games, let alone the divisional impact.
