2026 Draft Grade

I listen and watch a lot of the "expert analysts" talk about the draft classes of the teams and understand that I can't get excited nor upset because ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THESE GUYS KNOW ANYTHING. They just give their opinions just like everyone else who has a sphincter. Even the GM's don't KNOW. Or else there wouldn't be busts coming off of NFL teams every year. So, I just do the thing that should be done and not cause me stress and send me to the store to buy packs of cigarettes every year; I watch the games and see how these new players progress. There, another stress free season. Until they start playing

Originally posted by ritz126:
im sorry what are you talking about we have completely remade the DL in 2 years

Last year Collins and West were the depth to be mixed in but our team got injured especially to the DL to the point where they were pretty much our only DT on the roster. This year we traded for Osa and then drafted Halton

The idea that you wanted to draft a DT in arguably the weakest DT class i can remember is pretty wild. And i do believe this is our best DL since 2019. I like our depth ansd starters at EDGE and DT

Agree, from an athletic point of view they do look a lot like the 2019 DLine. Hopefully the coaches can coach these raw guys up into finely polished all-pro players.

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by ritz126:
im sorry what are you talking about we have completely remade the DL in 2 years

Last year Collins and West were the depth to be mixed in but our team got injured especially to the DL to the point where they were pretty much our only DT on the roster. This year we traded for Osa and then drafted Halton

The idea that you wanted to draft a DT in arguably the weakest DT class i can remember is pretty wild. And i do believe this is our best DL since 2019. I like our depth ansd starters at EDGE and DT

Agree, from an athletic point of view they do look a lot like the 2019 DLine. Hopefully the coaches can coach these raw guys up into finely polished all-pro players.

II'm going to go the other way. That's a leap of faith. I don't see how we're talking about our best D line with three guys that have never played a snap for us before and two sophomores grading mid low 50s in the mix. I don't see any Defo here or Dee Ford threat.

Height and Dugger are probably going to have hybrid responsibilities. We'll see how they work out. I like our rookie dts chances more for 3 down contributions.

And I'm not going to apologize for calling us a trash run defense team after Williams went down. 3rd and 17 is a play that no 49er fan or executive can or should forget.

The return of our starters will help but the need for a sound effective rotation, ala seattle, is imperative in this day and age and we compromised those goals to chase skill guys that were overfitted for our system.

I think that's the Crux of the disagreement and we probably should all stop talking about it because there's not going to be any resolution to how this draft turns out until training camp and beyond. Hope for success to all the new guys.

Maybe we can start to think a little bit about how odd our way of doing things is to people outside the building and see if there are any lessons to be learned there.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by ritz126:
im sorry what are you talking about we have completely remade the DL in 2 years

Last year Collins and West were the depth to be mixed in but our team got injured especially to the DL to the point where they were pretty much our only DT on the roster. This year we traded for Osa and then drafted Halton

The idea that you wanted to draft a DT in arguably the weakest DT class i can remember is pretty wild. And i do believe this is our best DL since 2019. I like our depth ansd starters at EDGE and DT

Agree, from an athletic point of view they do look a lot like the 2019 DLine. Hopefully the coaches can coach these raw guys up into finely polished all-pro players.

II'm going to go the other way. That's a leap of faith. I don't see how we're talking about our best D line with three guys that have never played a snap for us before and two sophomores grading mid low 50s in the mix. I don't see any Defo here or Dee Ford threat.

Height and Dugger are probably going to have hybrid responsibilities. We'll see how they work out. I like our rookie dts chances more for 3 down contributions.

And I'm not going to apologize for calling us a trash run defense team after Williams went down. 3rd and 17 is a play that no 49er fan or executive can or should forget.

The return of our starters will help but the need for a sound effective rotation, ala seattle, is imperative in this day and age and we compromised those goals to chase skill guys that were overfitted for our system.

I think that's the Crux of the disagreement and we probably should all stop talking about it because there's not going to be any resolution to how this draft turns out until training camp and beyond. Hope for success to all the new guys.

Maybe we can start to think a little bit about how odd our way of doing things is to people outside the building and see if there are any lessons to be learned there.

I think the young DT's had done well enough last year to get us into the playoffs, thats one objective metric that's not blind faith. We have a potential Dee Ford, which is more of a guess in Romello. The potential is there for a good DLine. This will be endlessly speculated upon by the Webzone until the regular season begins. Nothing we can do about it.

The one article that a lot of folks are talking about is how ShanaLynch supposedly tremendously reach on their draft picks. That taught me how stupid the media can be in a lot of ways. It just proves that mainstream media is no better than social media.

Well, you see. Not everyone thought our draft sucked. This is from Chad Reuter at NFL.com

Grades:

• Day 1: A
• Day 2: A-
• Day 3: A

Analysis:

• San Francisco wisely traded down twice in the first round to improve its stockpile of mid-round draft capital. Stribling should meet the Niners' need at receiver because of his size/speed combination and ability to make big plays after the catch, but we'll see if Germie Bernard (chosen 47th overall) or Denzel Boston (39th) have more productive careers. They added veteran pass rushing tackle Osa Odighizuwa via trade with their original third-round pick, but they acquired two more third-round choices to select a lean but explosive pass rusher (Height) and a tough, quick, productive runner (Black) who can give Christian McCaffrey a break.
• Halton was a very good value as a pass-rushing tackle early in the fourth round, even after the trade for Odighizuwa. The Niners found offensive-line depth on Day 3, as well, in Willis, a versatile guard/tackle, and Cruz, an athletic pass protector. The tall, athletic and raw Prysock was a worthy fifth-round project.

I understand the plan behind most of the picks...scheme and talent fit make sense in hindsight

I even changed my mind on value/reach for a few after post draft comments from other teams who were going to take them (Stribling is one example I am totally fine with compared to at the time)

My only negative relates to pick 90...RB

We had the following available
-OG Dunker (plug and play starter potential)
-OG/C Trey Zuhn (likely plug and play OG with future high ceiling at C)
-EDGE/LB Jaishawn Barham (same idea as duggar but has actual college production and is available as a starter immediately)

We did not need a 2nd or 3rd string RB when starter level players were available at areas of need

We would have had to pick RB at 4-27 and I think Black would still be there...and all our subsequent picks are likely still there as well.

If we got dunker/zuhn then we dont need willis
If we got barham then we dont need duggar

I hope im totally wrong...I hope FA OG Robert Jones is an ass kicker for us (or we sign Bitonio)

But this is my at the time...no hindsight criticism for the draft

I just casually went through the Kansas City draft since 2017 - and just some quick impressions about overall how Kansas City did their offseason talent acquisition - compared to us.

They had two good drafts prior to 2023. They got some starters from both drafts. The 2017 draft with Patrick was another good draft that got them two big contributors, Kareem Hunt and Patrick Mahomes. They also had a lot of coaching turnover, but since 2019, they've had stability at the defensive coaching side of the ball.

Overall I don't think they did any better than ShanaLynch did in drafting, although I think they did do some good free agency trades during that time. In 2019 they had Tyreek Hill who was drafted in 2016, Travis Kelce drafted in 2013, Chris Jones drafted in 2016, Frank Clark a great free agent addition in 2019, Mitchell Schwartz who was another free agent added in 2016.

I think the difference between KC and the 49ers in 2019 is just *one draft* - the 2016 draft, which was a draft that predated the ShanaLynch Reign. The difference between the KC and the 49ers in 2023 was the disastrous Trey Lance Draft.

Originally posted by adrianlesnar:

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
These arguments can go back and forth forever. The bottom line for me is that we again drafted skill positions before horses. Why? Based on some internal Dynamic that wants to keep everybody happy. I give this draft an F because we need to keep improving athletic quality and depth of our biggest players. The Way Seattle has done to find a winning formula.

Last year we gave up a billion points and had the worst run defense and pass rush in the NFL. Getting back Williams Bosa and Warner is only going to help partially. We need more depth up front and recommit to keeping players under 600 snaps even if they are getting paid $30M. We need to invest in bigs until one or two stand out and we can say " yeah, heres oir guy." That didnt happen last year with west or collins. So we try again. Its a mistake to assume its going to automatically happen year two.

We didnt do that and prioritized a blocking receiver who wont take targets awsy from evans or kirk and a guy who can spell cmc during blocking assignments. Sorry we lost the thread there.

This is a load of hot, misinformed garbage.

Fixed for accuracy.

Originally posted by Giedi:
I just casually went through the Kansas City draft since 2017 - and just some quick impressions about overall how Kansas City did their offseason talent acquisition - compared to us.

They had two good drafts prior to 2023. They got some starters from both drafts. The 2017 draft with Patrick was another good draft that got them two big contributors, Kareem Hunt and Patrick Mahomes. They also had a lot of coaching turnover, but since 2019, they've had stability at the defensive coaching side of the ball.

Overall I don't think they did any better than ShanaLynch did in drafting, although I think they did do some good free agency trades during that time. In 2019 they had Tyreek Hill who was drafted in 2016, Travis Kelce drafted in 2013, Chris Jones drafted in 2016, Frank Clark a great free agent addition in 2019, Mitchell Schwartz who was another free agent added in 2016.

I think the difference between KC and the 49ers in 2019 is just *one draft* - the 2016 draft, which was a draft that predated the ShanaLynch Reign. The difference between the KC and the 49ers in 2023 was the disastrous Trey Lance Draft.

They were smart enough to draft a couple refs as well

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
II'm going to go the other way. That's a leap of faith. I don't see how we're talking about our best D line with three guys that have never played a snap for us before and two sophomores grading mid low 50s in the mix. I don't see any Defo here or Dee Ford threat.

Time will tell, but it does appear they have at least targeted the Defo and Ford arch types

Originally posted by 49ers81:
Well, you see. Not everyone thought our draft sucked. This is from Chad Reuter at NFL.com

Grades:

• Day 1: A
• Day 2: A-
• Day 3: A

Analysis:

• San Francisco wisely traded down twice in the first round to improve its stockpile of mid-round draft capital. Stribling should meet the Niners' need at receiver because of his size/speed combination and ability to make big plays after the catch, but we'll see if Germie Bernard (chosen 47th overall) or Denzel Boston (39th) have more productive careers. They added veteran pass rushing tackle Osa Odighizuwa via trade with their original third-round pick, but they acquired two more third-round choices to select a lean but explosive pass rusher (Height) and a tough, quick, productive runner (Black) who can give Christian McCaffrey a break.
• Halton was a very good value as a pass-rushing tackle early in the fourth round, even after the trade for Odighizuwa. The Niners found offensive-line depth on Day 3, as well, in Willis, a versatile guard/tackle, and Cruz, an athletic pass protector. The tall, athletic and raw Prysock was a worthy fifth-round project.

SSorry no disrespect. I already posted about nfl.com and their draft grades. everybody gets a good grade. It's PR for the league.

Originally posted by Dshearn:

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
II'm going to go the other way. That's a leap of faith. I don't see how we're talking about our best D line with three guys that have never played a snap for us before and two sophomores grading mid low 50s in the mix. I don't see any Defo here or Dee Ford threat.

Time will tell, but it does appear they have at least targeted the Defo and Ford arch types

What? There is no Merlin Olson defensive lineman archetype. There is no Defo archetype. Our sophomores need to get stronger and in better shape and this draft class we'll see. Its unlikely we hit with a demon speed rusher. The point is we shouldn't have taken our foot off the gas and prioritized a WR3 and RB2 instead.

Originally posted by mcwoot:
They were smart enough to draft a couple refs as well

HHopefully they're all retired by now.

This just encapsulate what's failing this team year in and year out, why this team fails every year in the draft, and why injuries derail our seasons time and time again. Shanny needs to be FAR away from roster building and the draft. She he be consulted? Yes! But his outsized control of the draft and the roster is the process that's failing this team because he's drafting to replace who left, not drafting to create competition and true roster building.

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:
SSorry no disrespect. I already posted about nfl.com and their draft grades. everybody gets a good grade. It's PR for the league.

Ok but in the context of his own grades, the 49ers were nowhere near the bottom. If he thought the 49ers draft was one of the worst in the NFL, why not grade them that way (regardless of A/B/C/whatever) relative to the rest of the league?