John Lynch - 49ers GM

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
They only have 7 picks with 4 of them on day 3 so how do they fill all those needs? Free agency can help but they can't sign any high priced guys.

Why can't they sign any high priced veterans? Lynch has already said they will have more cap space to do so.

Originally posted by Heroism:
Back in 2017 when Adam Peters joined the 49ers, John Lynch said they were implementing the New England Patriots' drafting grading system. Man, I wish I could find the article. It was on KNBR.com featuring an interview with John Lynch where he went into detail on the NE system, but the article has long been deleted. It essentially said that the Patriots' graded players based on whether they could win a starting spot and fit on the team. In other words, players' value is heavily weighed by the roster's needs and culture. The article also mentioned how the individual coaching staff's opinions on players carried significant weight and if a they had a guy they loved, they were likely get drafted. These two factors explain why there's SOOOOOOOOO many f**king ill-advised reaches by the 49ers.

When you consider all of this, you really do get a better understanding from a roster and draft perspective of what Shanny meant when he said, "you don't come in and take Cassius Marsh's job" back in 2018 or whenever it was. Adam Peters' brought this trash to the 49ers, and it's been here ever since.

damn, I love AI.

Here's what's known about Adam Peters joining the San Francisco 49ers in 2017 and the impact of the grading system he brought with him from his time with the Patriots (and through Denver):

The Grading System He Helped Introduce at the 49ers When Peters arrived in 2017, the 49ers switched their draft grading system to one that was used by the Denver Broncos, which itself had roots in the system originally developed and popularized in New England. This change came during the 49ers' draft meetings leading into the 2017 NFL Draft.

John Lynch explained that the 49ers initially were using an older grading method from the previous regime, but transitioned to the Broncos/New England system under Peters and Martin Mayhew. That framework was familiar to others in the league from New England, including Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff, making it a natural culture fit for the 49ers.

🧠 What This Grading System Means While teams don't publicly detail the specifics of their internal grading scales, systems like the one from New England typically share these characteristics:

Standardized Prospect Evaluations – Each player on the draft board is given detailed grades based on traits, positional fit, character, and coach/GM criteria rather than purely on traditional stats.

Collaborative Scouting Language – Scouts, coaches, and executives use a common set of terms and scorecards so everyone evaluates prospects against the same benchmarks.

Consistency Across League-Proven Models – The New England system has historically emphasized thoroughness and discipline in the scouting process, which carried over to Denver (where Peters worked) and then to San Francisco.

📈 Impact on the 49ers Adopting this grading structure is widely seen as part of the broader culture shift that helped the 49ers build a stronger roster via the draft and free agency in the years after 2017, contributing to drafting key players and building consistency in evaluations.

In short, Peters didn't just bring his résumé from successful franchises — he brought a structured, collaborative draft grading philosophy rooted in New England's processes (filtered through Denver) to the 49ers, helping standardize how prospects were evaluated and contributing to the organization's talent-building approach.

Why is this guy still in the building? He sucks

Originally posted by Heroism:
damn, I love AI.

Here's what's known about Adam Peters joining the San Francisco 49ers in 2017 and the impact of the grading system he brought with him from his time with the Patriots (and through Denver):

The Grading System He Helped Introduce at the 49ers When Peters arrived in 2017, the 49ers switched their draft grading system to one that was used by the Denver Broncos, which itself had roots in the system originally developed and popularized in New England. This change came during the 49ers' draft meetings leading into the 2017 NFL Draft.

John Lynch explained that the 49ers initially were using an older grading method from the previous regime, but transitioned to the Broncos/New England system under Peters and Martin Mayhew. That framework was familiar to others in the league from New England, including Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff, making it a natural culture fit for the 49ers.

🧠 What This Grading System Means While teams don't publicly detail the specifics of their internal grading scales, systems like the one from New England typically share these characteristics:

Standardized Prospect Evaluations – Each player on the draft board is given detailed grades based on traits, positional fit, character, and coach/GM criteria rather than purely on traditional stats.

Collaborative Scouting Language – Scouts, coaches, and executives use a common set of terms and scorecards so everyone evaluates prospects against the same benchmarks.

Consistency Across League-Proven Models – The New England system has historically emphasized thoroughness and discipline in the scouting process, which carried over to Denver (where Peters worked) and then to San Francisco.

📈 Impact on the 49ers Adopting this grading structure is widely seen as part of the broader culture shift that helped the 49ers build a stronger roster via the draft and free agency in the years after 2017, contributing to drafting key players and building consistency in evaluations.

In short, Peters didn't just bring his résumé from successful franchises — he brought a structured, collaborative draft grading philosophy rooted in New England's processes (filtered through Denver) to the 49ers, helping standardize how prospects were evaluated and contributing to the organization's talent-building approach.

It was so good that we traded the whole farm for Trey Lance and spent a top3 on Houston. Awesome

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:

Originally posted by AJinUT:
Great takes I thought.



Talks on what the Niners need and how much longer Shanahan and Lynch have around 8:00 minute mark, basically 3 more years.

Needs:
Linebacker with Fred Warner
Pass Rushing DE and DT
Cornerback to go opposite Lenior
Safey Coverage Guy
Offensive:
Need to address WR and get faster and bigger . . . ie Alec Pierce
Offensive Line: Need center and Left Guard.
Tight End in the future

Also they discuss trading Matt Jones and that he really could get a 2nd round pick for him based on QB available for draft.

Also, J Jennings is probably gone as he isn't worth the 20 million he will probably get on the market and the Niners max would be 16 million or 32 million for 2 years or 45 million for 3 years is probably max because with receivers, the Niners just have to get faster and be explosive and Jennings doesn't fit.

Thoughts?

They only have 7 picks with 4 of them on day 3 and none higher than #26 in any round. Three compensatory picks come at the end of the regular round. So how do they fill all those needs? Free agency can help but they can't sign any high priced guys.

Wouldn't surprise me if we had more draft picks come draft day.

Can definitely sign a high priced guy if he's the right fit.

Not every need has to be filled with a high priced guy.

It can be done, not saying it will be, but doable.

Originally posted by JaggedJ:
Lliterally nobody thinks that Kyle has zero input, come on.

The GM always gets judged by draft picks, re-signings and FA moves, regardless of how much input coaches have.

This is Kyles team and has been for a while. The article in the athletic really opened a lot of peoples eyes in terms of how much of a micromanager he is, and how much power he wields.

I dont believe for a second Kyle has little or even less than 75% of input on drafted players, and probably close to 100% of input on offensive players. Sure, scouts offer their assessments but ultimately Kyle makes the call on every draft pick.

Lynch was hired by Kyle with zero experience. The only reason Lynch is in this position is because of Kyle. Kyle could fire him tomorrow. However, Kyle has been here for nine years and we know hes uncomfortable with outside people. And he needs a peoples/PR person which is mostly what Lynch is imo. Id be extremely surprised if Lynch goes anywhere without Kyle. Unless Jed intervenes - but I think Jed is just fine with team being a contender every season for now - I doubt it happens.

My question is - what changes by simply firing Lynch ? I dont think anything does. Stripping or delegating some of Kyles personnel decisions would be a more apt course of action if we want to change drafting philosophy imo. Firing a guy who is just a figurehead doesnt do a damn thing imo. What you need to overhaul is drafting and personnel philosophy. Go with talent over system. Only one guy can decide to change that (aside from Jed of course).

TL;DR - Kyle should be getting more blame than Lynch for drafting badly, ESPECIALLY on offense. Constantly spending valuable picks on RBs who never play and then just running CMC into the ground is absurd and you cant tell me its anyone else but Kyle who keeps drafting these upside picks who never see snaps on offense, but guys like Bourne do.

We have drafted 3 impact players since 2020: Aiyuk, Lenoir and Purdy. Aiyuk is gone. Purdy was the last pick.

The FO has completely ruined this team.

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
They only have 7 picks with 4 of them on day 3 and none higher than #26 in any round. Three compensatory picks come at the end of the regular round. So how do they fill all those needs? Free agency can help but they can't sign any high priced guys.

They have to make sure who they pick up in free agency are impactful at the right position (thinking DE and WR) and then they HAVE to get their picks right in the draft and pick people who can come in and make a difference year 1. It may be next year is our in between year to let newer guys adapt and then in their sophmore and junior years IF Shanahan and Lynch and drafted correctly, we can be back in the mix. We'll see.

Originally posted by AJinUT:

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
They only have 7 picks with 4 of them on day 3 and none higher than #26 in any round. Three compensatory picks come at the end of the regular round. So how do they fill all those needs? Free agency can help but they can't sign any high priced guys.

They have to make sure who they pick up in free agency are impactful at the right position (thinking DE and WR) and then they HAVE to get their picks right in the draft and pick people who can come in and make a difference year 1. It may be next year is our in between year to let newer guys adapt and then in their sophmore and junior years IF Shanahan and Lynch and drafted correctly, we can be back in the mix. We'll see.

What you sat is true but I'm just saying it's not likely to happen. When does any team hit on every draft pick and sign every free agent they want. They inly have between $25 and $40 million in cap space. That's not a lot in today's world. One top tier player could take that much. They can sign guys but how much of an impact are they going to make. They signed several of those types this year.

I think if we can get blistering speed all over the offense next year and beef up the OL to allow that speed to work, we will be able to cook Seattle.

Shanny clearly wants speed. Seattle has bigger guys who can be beat with elite quickness. The only teams to beat them were us, LA, and Tampa. Our defense made the difference in week one, but we're gonna need more firepower to keep up next year.

Originally posted by niner4life21:
We have drafted 3 impact players since 2020: Aiyuk, Lenoir and Purdy. Aiyuk is gone. Purdy was the last pick.

The FO has completely ruined this team.

Stout clearly looks like he is good impact. Mykell was looking good before the injury as well. I'm not as low on Mustapha as others are, same as Green and Sigle. Those guys might look a lot better once we get a pass rush. Collin's and CJ West look like they will be solid. Pearsall, jury is still out could go either way. Puni had a great rookie year but sophomore slump, I blame brendel and mckivits and burford for the state of the o line. I agree that the 2023 draft sucked tho. I'm completely out on Jair brown, he sucks.

I want to reiterate, the problem with this FO isn't the quality of each draft pick, their hit rate on their picks isn't bad. It's the fact that they gave up a TON of draft assets in the Trey Lance trade, CMC trade and some others and now that is bearing fruit with a roster that is low on young elite talent

Originally posted by CatchMaster80:
They only have 7 picks with 4 of them on day 3 and none higher than #26 in any round. Three compensatory picks come at the end of the regular round. So how do they fill all those needs? Free agency can help but they can't sign any high priced guys.

One thing I do miss about Baalke is his ability to work a draft and rack up a whole bunch of extra picks. Of course he didn't do a lot with those picks once he got them but he sure got a lot of them.

I kind of like that shotgun approach to the draft. No matter how good you are at evaluating talent, you are going to miss a lot so get as many bites of the apple as you can.

Originally posted by the_dynasty:
This is Kyles team and has been for a while. The article in the athletic really opened a lot of peoples eyes in terms of how much of a micromanager he is, and how much power he wields.

I dont believe for a second Kyle has little or even less than 75% of input on drafted players, and probably close to 100% of input on offensive players. Sure, scouts offer their assessments but ultimately Kyle makes the call on every draft pick.

Lynch was hired by Kyle with zero experience. The only reason Lynch is in this position is because of Kyle. Kyle could fire him tomorrow. However, Kyle has been here for nine years and we know hes uncomfortable with outside people. And he needs a peoples/PR person which is mostly what Lynch is imo. Id be extremely surprised if Lynch goes anywhere without Kyle. Unless Jed intervenes - but I think Jed is just fine with team being a contender every season for now - I doubt it happens.

My question is - what changes by simply firing Lynch ? I dont think anything does. Stripping or delegating some of Kyles personnel decisions would be a more apt course of action if we want to change drafting philosophy imo. Firing a guy who is just a figurehead doesnt do a damn thing imo. What you need to overhaul is drafting and personnel philosophy. Go with talent over system. Only one guy can decide to change that (aside from Jed of course).

TL;DR - Kyle should be getting more blame than Lynch for drafting badly, ESPECIALLY on offense. Constantly spending valuable picks on RBs who never play and then just running CMC into the ground is absurd and you cant tell me its anyone else but Kyle who keeps drafting these upside picks who never see snaps on offense, but guys like Bourne do.

This is revisionist history IMO. The 49ers first GM target was Chris Ballard, and he wouldn't take the interview. Kyle was very likely not even their 1st coaching choice… especially when you factor in the idea that Ballard was their top choice and he was 'tied' to Josh McDaniels, a long time target of the organization.

They also interviewed a couple Packers executives who dropped out before 2nd interviews. The top candidates did not want this job.

The organization couldn't land a GM. They boxed themselves in. They haven't hired any kind of external GM-in-waiting candidate for 20 years. This is exactly how Kyle was able to leverage personnel power and him and Lynch were able to get the contracts that they did (with no offsetting language if they were fired and hired by someone else).

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
I think if we can get blistering speed all over the offense next year and beef up the OL to allow that speed to work, we will be able to cook Seattle.

Shanny clearly wants speed. Seattle has bigger guys who can be beat with elite quickness. The only teams to beat them were us, LA, and Tampa. Our defense made the difference in week one, but we're gonna need more firepower to keep up next year.

Good post. But...I thought Week 1 didn't count? You know, Week 1, one of the very few weeks the Niners had all of their playmakers healthy at the same time except Kittle for most of that game.

The point is the Niners aren't as far away as some make it sound. Besides the obvious one - getting healthy - they must do what you mention and add in some younger & faster guys at the skill positions. For the OL, C & LG must be upgraded. On D, they need an additional impact guy or two on the DL to go along w/ Bosa, Williams, and the rookies, Collins & West, who showed good promise. Add another LB that can be that guy next to Warner (don't think Winters is it unless he shows more consistently). Get a true, Centerfield-type S that's also a solid tackler - closest thing they've had most recently was Jimmie Ward, a good tackler.

This offseason is going to be very important & revealing for this team going into Year 10 of Shanahan & Lynch. Let's see what they do in the draft, FA, trades, and any other acquisitions to further build & fortify the roster. Hoping for the best.

Originally posted by communist:
Why is this guy still in the building? He sucks

His best ability is availability. He's never hurt