Originally posted by English:
yes, even a 1st round pick is not a guaranteed starter. The draft is a lottery.
By the way Bud49, I was under the impression that most of the talent evaluation is done by the scouts. If poor old John is doing all the talent evaluation, what on earth do the scouts do to pass the idle hours?
Truth of the matter is, everybody gets stuck in to assess the draft prospects. But when the zone is looking to drop the blame, it's Lynch or Shanahan.
I think that is turning into a legitimate concern. People like to come in here and blast Lynch for the growing list of missed opportunities in the draft because he's the GM and, presumably, has a large say in who they will ultimately select. But he's not the one who is doing all of the player evaluations and so you start to wonder if maybe the team needs to reevaluate its scouting department and its process.
I think one of the most obvious fails of the last few years, in hindsight, was selecting Kinlaw over Wirfs. A guy who was barely able to stay on the field as opposed to a future All-Pro at a position of need. I think we all know that Lynch and Shanahan have put a huge emphasis on the D-line since they got here and it's part of their overall philosophy, create a defense that gets you off the field on third down, but they haven't actually been very good at it. Starting with the Solomon Thomas and Reuben Foster picks.
I mean, they've obviously had some successes on that side of the ball. Lenior, Green and Stout aren't terrible, but are any of them future All-Pros? Before this last draft, I can't even remember a defensive lineman they've picked that's ended up being a difference maker, outside of Bosa. Hopefully, Williams, Collins and West, will change that narrative a bit.
As I said in another post, I think the time has come for them to really clean house along the defensive line. Get rid of Elliot, Davis, and Givens who seem like they've been with the team forever but aren't really difference makers. Let YGM walk, give Anderson and Valdez more opportunities and zero in on a D-lineman who actually can be a wrecking ball at this level if they're determined to go down that road again.
I realize that picking so late in the draft this year will limit their opportunities, but every year it seems like there are a few players who fall into the late rounds that end up being terrific, why isn't it our scouting department that finds them? Which isn't to say we haven't had some success there, but we seem to find more high value roll players than out and out stars, which is what the team needs right now.
Perhaps there's an argument to made for doing what the Bills did, kick their GM up to President of Football Operations and bring in a new GM, someone who has a legitimate track record in drafting impact players. I'm not saying every pick has to be a homerun, but at least one per draft would be nice. Go Niners!
[ Edited by 49ers81 on Jan 21, 2026 at 8:59 AM ]