2026 Draft Grade

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:

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.

Oh, okay. because you posted about it that makes it true. Got it. -- I'm happy to concede that this take is an outlier among the national media, but I think it's also true that when you take the time to really look at the picks and view them in the context of how the team plans to use them and not just measure them against what everyone else is saying, then there are a lot of things to like about the picks they made.

Doesn't mean they will work out, but the reasoning becomes pretty clear. The problem with most people is that they get used to seeing the names that the media types talk up, and so unless their team takes one of "those guys" it's a bad pick, or "bad value". As I said in another post. It will be a good draft if the guys they picked end up making a positive impact on the team. It will be a bad draft if they don't. Where they were picked in relation to where some people think they should have been picked, is a meaningless metric. Go Niners!

Originally posted by 49ers81:

Originally posted by brodiebluebanaszak:

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.

Oh, okay. because you posted about it that makes it true. Got it. -- I'm happy to concede that this take is an outlier among the national media, but I think it's also true that when you take the time to really look at the picks and view them in the context of how the team plans to use them and not just measure them against what everyone else is saying, then there are a lot of things to like about the picks they made.

Doesn't mean they will work out, but the reasoning becomes pretty clear. The problem with most people is that they get used to seeing the names that the media types talk up, and so unless their team takes one of "those guys" it's a bad pick, or "bad value". As I said in another post. It will be a good draft if the guys they picked end up making a positive impact on the team. It will be a bad draft if they don't. Where they were picked in relation to where some people think they should have been picked, is a meaningless metric. Go Niners!

TThe grade inflation at nfl.com is real. Check it out yourself. I think people are tired of quirky position pics that makes sense to only a few people in the building. It's not so much the talent they're drafting but the positional priority that they show. Nobody can understand it.

The aI analysis is pretty right on. We've hit some home runs in the draft but also have destroyed draft value by picking odd positions and missing medical issues. The way that we distribute draft picks internally also leads to some weird perceptions outside the building. Anyway it's not about the people we drafted it's about the positional priority, for me.

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:


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.

The draft hit rate for getting players that actually start and play is way below 50% for most drafts. I've seen statistics as high as 50% for the first half of the first round. As you move later in the draft, the hit rates drop *way below* 50%. So by definition - to fail in the draft (an average failure rate of more than 50% in my book) is normal.

Drafting and player acquisition is different, and in player acquisition, ShanaLynch have done pretty well with two superbowl appearances in 7 years.

I'm not saying ShanaLynch is perfect. They need to get better. But they aren't as bad as how the bottom feeder GM/HC's of the NFL teams generally draft.

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:


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.

WE had an insane amount of injuries to multiple all pros last year in key positions and still was in a fight for the #1 seed in week 17 and won a playoff game

So not sure what you are on about our roster construction and how "a few" injuries derail our season

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:
Great draft, tremendous draft.. the best draft ever

Many people say the best draft ever, frankly.

Originally posted by LambdaChi49:

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:
Great draft, tremendous draft.. the best draft ever

Many people say the best draft ever, frankly.

It was sarcasm. Many people pushing back on the media overeaction. But the fundamental criticisms remain.

At least they didn't draft a kicker, so that keeps them above a D for me.

Originally posted by ritz126:

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:


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.

WE had an insane amount of injuries to multiple all pros last year in key positions and still was in a fight for the #1 seed in week 17 and won a playoff game

So not sure what you are on about our roster construction and how "a few" injuries derail our season

FACTS, and helped almost entirely by a weak schedule.

Tell me, what happened when we faced a better drafted team in the playoffs? We got our a$$es handed to us. Couldn't even move the ball. And even then we won by smoke & mirrors schemed up by Shanny and Salah. Did you not see our O-line get manhandled all season? The top teams have figured out to beat Shanny's scheme is to attack his personnel philosophy with better talent. Attack his lighter, faster O-lineman with bigger, stronger D-lineman. That way Shanny's scheme can't be realized against the better teams.

I don't know if you watched the whole video, but it's clear from Shanny's near 10 year tenure as the 49ers HC he's drafting to replace losses, not build the roster. This explains why we've had such poor drafts full of so many reaches. He's not drafting players to come in and push entrenched starters, he's drafting their backups. This is why injuries have derailed so many seasons for us. Sure, we get to the playoffs because Shanny is, after all, the best offensive mind in the NFL. But when get there and have to rely on said drafted backups against better drafted and more talented teams we get exposed.

I'm sorry, the critics have a major point that Shanny & Co. need to held accountable for.

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:

Originally posted by ritz126:

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:


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.

WE had an insane amount of injuries to multiple all pros last year in key positions and still was in a fight for the #1 seed in week 17 and won a playoff game

So not sure what you are on about our roster construction and how "a few" injuries derail our season

FACTS, and helped almost entirely by a weak schedule.

Tell me, what happened when we faced a better drafted team in the playoffs? We got our a$$es handed to us. Couldn't even move the ball. And even then we won by smoke & mirrors schemed up by Shanny and Salah. Did you not see our O-line get manhandled all season? The top teams have figured out to beat Shanny's scheme is to attack his personnel philosophy with better talent. Attack his lighter, faster O-lineman with bigger, stronger D-lineman. That way Shanny's scheme can't be realized against the better teams.

I don't know if you watched the whole video, but it's clear from Shanny's near 10 year tenure as the 49ers HC he's drafting to replace losses, not build the roster. This explains why we've had such poor drafts full of so many reaches. He's not drafting players to come in and push entrenched starters, he's drafting their backups. This is why injuries have derailed so many seasons for us. Sure, we get to the playoffs because Shanny is, after all, the best offensive mind in the NFL. But when get there and have to rely on said drafted backups against better drafted and more talented teams we get exposed.

I'm sorry, the critics have a major point that Shanny & Co. need to held accountable for.

SoS ended up 15th, right in the middle of the pack. So there goes that argument.

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:

Originally posted by ritz126:

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:


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.

WE had an insane amount of injuries to multiple all pros last year in key positions and still was in a fight for the #1 seed in week 17 and won a playoff game

So not sure what you are on about our roster construction and how "a few" injuries derail our season

FACTS, and helped almost entirely by a weak schedule.

Tell me, what happened when we faced a better drafted team in the playoffs? We got our a$$es handed to us. Couldn't even move the ball. And even then we won by smoke & mirrors schemed up by Shanny and Salah. Did you not see our O-line get manhandled all season? The top teams have figured out to beat Shanny's scheme is to attack his personnel philosophy with better talent. Attack his lighter, faster O-lineman with bigger, stronger D-lineman. That way Shanny's scheme can't be realized against the better teams.

I don't know if you watched the whole video, but it's clear from Shanny's near 10 year tenure as the 49ers HC he's drafting to replace losses, not build the roster. This explains why we've had such poor drafts full of so many reaches. He's not drafting players to come in and push entrenched starters, he's drafting their backups. This is why injuries have derailed so many seasons for us. Sure, we get to the playoffs because Shanny is, after all, the best offensive mind in the NFL. But when get there and have to rely on said drafted backups against better drafted and more talented teams we get exposed.

I'm sorry, the critics have a major point that Shanny & Co. need to held accountable for.

It's easy to be a critic when you've never been successful, or even a failure, at the job yourself. Maybe if they sucked more often, like Seattle, they could draft higher every once in awhile they'd accumulate enough top of the draft talent to make critics happy. Considering how often they are drafting later in the draft, and how often they are competitive, the critics should be smarter with their criticism. They aren't drafting to please a bunch of idiot talking heads, they are drafting to win games and stay competitive. If they hadn't been so unlucky with injuries last year, they'd have been much more competitive. Even with the ridiculous amount of injuries that happened to superstar players, they still were in it until the very end of the year. I swear some folks don't understand how good they have it, lol.

Originally posted by Memphis9er:
It's easy to be a critic when you've never been successful, or even a failure, at the job yourself. Maybe if they sucked more often, like Seattle, they could draft higher every once in awhile they'd accumulate enough top of the draft talent to make critics happy. Considering how often they are drafting later in the draft, and how often they are competitive, the critics should be smarter with their criticism. They aren't drafting to please a bunch of idiot talking heads, they are drafting to win games and stay competitive. If they hadn't been so unlucky with injuries last year, they'd have been much more competitive. Even with the ridiculous amount of injuries that happened to superstar players, they still were in it until the very end of the year. I swear some folks don't understand how good they have it, lol.

Agree 💯%, it was insane the injuries they had last year. Bosa, Warner, Purdy's toe, Kittle's every bone in his body, Aiyuk going mentally insane...

It goes to show you how the 2025 draft was really good. Good enough that the backups and rookies stepped in for the injured and still make the playoffs. I just hope that kind of drafting continues. So far, just doing a casual eyeball on the 2026 draft, I think they hit it out of the park (on paper at least).

Maybe I'm older now but there doesn't appear to be much to get excited about for this draft class. Nor can we say that this draft class is bad either. I guess we will see how some of the guys perform against the other available options. Boston and Stribling will most likely be the ones being compare to each other, we'll see. The rest of them seem uninspiring but again we haven't seen how they'll translate at the pro level yet. Lukewarm. I would say their draft record looks worse than it is primarily because they seem to whiff in the early rounds far too often.

12 minutes or so of Kyle talking about the team's draft process. Agree or disagree, but don't come in here anymore and say you don't understand why the team made this selection or that selection.

Originally posted by Memphis9er:
It's easy to be a critic when you've never been successful, or even a failure, at the job yourself. Maybe if they sucked more often, like Seattle, they could draft higher every once in awhile they'd accumulate enough top of the draft talent to make critics happy. Considering how often they are drafting later in the draft, and how often they are competitive, the critics should be smarter with their criticism. They aren't drafting to please a bunch of idiot talking heads, they are drafting to win games and stay competitive. If they hadn't been so unlucky with injuries last year, they'd have been much more competitive. Even with the ridiculous amount of injuries that happened to superstar players, they still were in it until the very end of the year. I swear some folks don't understand how good they have it, lol.

Originally posted by Giedi:
Agree 💯%, it was insane the injuries they had last year. Bosa, Warner, Purdy's toe, Kittle's every bone in his body, Aiyuk going mentally insane...

It goes to show you how the 2025 draft was really good. Good enough that the backups and rookies stepped in for the injured and still make the playoffs. I just hope that kind of drafting continues. So far, just doing a casual eyeball on the 2026 draft, I think they hit it out of the park (on paper at least).

Ok. Fair enough. So lets look at the drafts since Shanny & Co. took over, shall we:

* = Doubt they make the 53.
** = Jury still out
Bold = Successful pick still on the team, or otherwise successful for another team on a real 2nd contract
Italicized = Rounds 1 - 5 busts/wasted pick

2017 - 1 still on the team.
1, pick 3: DL Solomon Thomas
1, pick 31: LB Reuben Foster
3, pick 66: CB Ahkello Witherspoon
3, pick 104: QB C.J. Beathard
4, pick 121: RB Joe Williams
5, pick 146: TE George Kittle
5, pick 177: WR Trent Taylor
6, pick 198: DL D.J. Jones
6, pick 202: LB/DL Pita Taumoepenu
7, pick 229: S Adrian Colbert

2018 – 1 still on the team
1, (9). Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame
2, (59). Dante Pettis, WR, Washington
3, (70). Fred Warner, LB, BYU
3, (95). Tarvarius Moore, DB, Southern Mississippi
4, (128). Kentavius Street, DE, N.C. State
5, (142). D.J. Reed, CB, Kansas State
6, (184). Marcell Harris, S, Florida
7, (223). Jullian Taylor, DT, Temple
7, (240). Richie James, WR, Middle Tennessee State

2019 – 2 still on the team.
1 - Pick 2 - Nick Bosa, DE, Ohio State
2 - Pick 36 - Deebo Samuel, WR, South Carolina
3 - Pick 67 - Jalen Hurd, WR, Baylor
4 - Pick 110- Mitch Wishnowsky, P, Utah
5 - Pick 148 - Dre Greenlaw- LB, Arkansas
6 - Pick 176 - Kaden Smith, TE Stanford
6 - Pick 183 - Justin Skule, OT, Vanderbilt
6 - Pick 198 - Tim Harris, CB, Virginia

2020 – 1 still on the team.
1 -14, DT, Javon Kinlaw, South Carolina
1 - 25, WR, Brandon Aiyuk, Arizona State (will not be on the team)
5 - 153, OT, Colton McKivitz, West Virginia
6 - 190, TE, Charlie Woerner, Georgia
7 - 217, WR, Jauan Jennings, Tennessee

2021 – 0 still on the team
1, pick 3 - Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State
2, pick 48 (from LV) - Aaron Banks, G, Notre Dame
3, pick 88 (from LAR) - Trey Sermon, RB, Ohio State
3, pick 102 - Ambry Thomas, CB, Michigan
5, pick 155 - Jaylon Moore, OG, Western Michigan (Chiefs got fleeced)
5, pick 172 - Talanoa Huganga, S, USC
6, pick 194 - Elijah Mitchell, RB, Louisiana

2022 – 2 still on the team.
2, Pick 61: DE Drake Jackson
3, Pick 93: RB Tyrion Davis-Price
3, Pick 105: WR Danny Gray
4, Pick 134: OL Spencer Burford
5, Pick 172: CB Samuel Womack
6, Pick 187: OL Nick Zakelj
6, Pick 220: DT Kalia Davis
6, Pick 221: CB Tariq Castro-Fields
7, Pick 262: QB Brock Purdy

2023 – 3 still on the team.
3 (87), S Ji'Ayir Brown, Penn State
3 (99), K Jake Moody, Michigan
3 (101), TE Cameron Latu, Alabama
5 (155), CB Darrell Luter Jr., South Alabama
5 (173), EDGE Robert Beal Jr., Georgia
6 (216), LB Dee Winters, TCU
7 (247), TE Brayden Willis, Oklahoma
7 (253), WR Ronnie Bell, Michigan
7 (255), LB Jalen Graham, Purdue

2024 – 7 still on the team
1, 31st - WR Ricky Pearsall, Florida (leaning bust, and will be in competition with Kirk for #3 WR)
2, 64th - CB Renardo Green, Florida State (competition likely to push him out)
3, 86th - OL Dominick Puni, Kansas
4, 124th - S Malik Mustapha, Wake Forest
4, 129th - RB Isaac Guerendo, Louisville (on notice)
4, 135th - WR Jacob Cowing, Arizona (on notice)
6, 215th - OL Jarrett Kingston, USC
7, 251st - LB Tatum Bethune, FSU *

2025 – All on the team
1, 11 - Mykel Williams, EDGE, Georgia
2, 43 - Alfred Collins, DT, Texas
3, 75 - Nick Martin, LB, Oklahoma State **
3, 100 - Upton Stout, CB, Western Kentucky
4, 113 - CJ West, DT, Indiana **
4, 138 - Jordan Watkins, WR, Ole Miss (leaning bust)
5, 147 - Jordan James, RB, Oregon *
5, 160 - Marques Sigle, S, Kansas State **
7, 227 - Kurtis Rourke, QB, Indiana
7, 249 - Connor Colby, G, Iowa *
7, 252 - Junior Bergen, WR, Montana *

2026 – Only one likely starter
2, 33 - De'Zhaun Stribling, WR, Ole Miss (a big reach, but will likely push Pearsall to #3 WR, has ALL the traits Shanny wants in WR's)
3, 70 - Romello Height, Edge, Texas Tech (big reach, offers nothing in the run game, but I get it)
3, 90 - Kaelon Black, RB, Indiana (an awful reach and likely won't see the field much)
4, 107 - Gracen Halton, DT, Oklahoma (great pick, will be a great rotational piece)
4, 127 - Carver Willis, OL, Washington (a bad reach, too light, will get pushed around)
5, 154 - Jaden Dugger, LB, Louisiana (like the pick, will push Bethune off the roster)
5, 179 - Enrique Cruz Jr., OT, Kansas (intrigued, should have went sooner)

• Total drafted players between 2017 & 2025: 76
• Current starters on the team from those drafts between 2017 & 2025: 14 (but 50% of those starters come from the 2024 & 2025 drafts)
• 1st round hit: 25%
• Total 1st - 5th busts/wasted picks: 20
• Players still on the team between 2017 & 2024: 17 (not including the 7 from the 2024 season & all 11 from 2025)
• Number of 3rd & 4th round RB since 2017: 6

I'm sorry, we have nearly 10 seasons of draft evidence to be able to safely say that whatever Shanny & Co. draft process is it needs to change or seriously tweaked. The 2021, 2022, and 2023 drafts were just awful draft performances for Shanny & Co. But for Brock Purdy I do think Shanny & Lynch gets fired. Now, the 2024 and 2025 drafts look to be Shanny & Co. better drafts, but that's pending on how the 2026 draft shakes out, but the 2026 looks to have only one potential starter with the rest looking to be role players. The 2026 draft could turn out eerily similar to the 2022 draft netting only one starter and the rest eventually off the team.

We have watched 3 drafts in which there's only one player remaining from that draft, and one draft with 0 players remaining on the roster from that draft. I don't think it's fair to imply that fans don't have a right to critique after THAT draft performance over the last 9 seasons.

I'm not calling for Shanny to be fired. He is the best offensive mind in the NFL and at worst a top 3 HC. Firing him would be foolish. What I am saying that we have enough draft performance to be able to definitively say that, while he is a top 3 HC and the top offensive mind in football, the draft and roster building isn't his lane and that his control of the roster needs to be curtailed. In fact, the evidence shows it's a huge blind spot for Shanny. And fans voicing that critique isn't us saying that we know more than him. Are we in the draft room? No! Do we know more about football than him? Absolutely not! But we do have 9 drafts, 9 rosters, and 2 eyes that have used for watching all those 9 seasons and drafts to be able to develop a logical opinion based off what we've witnessed from those said drafts. As life-long 49ers fans we have every right to do so.

Whenever one's performance is open for public consumption, public critique - good or bad - is fair game, warranted, and to be expected. And because that performance is open for public consumption neither critique, nor praise, require qualifications.

Originally posted by 49ers81:
12 minutes or so of Kyle talking about the team's draft process. Agree or disagree, but don't come in here anymore and say you don't understand why the team made this selection or that selection.

I watched that whole video. Yeah, Shanny's roster building powers need to be curtailed. Shanny doing this interview tells me that he's hearing the criticism. But this explains a lot of bad drafts by Shanny. He said that he doesn't start studying highlights - HIGHLIGHTS!! - until February, and don't know who the Heisman is because he's so focused on NFL ball. And watches nothing else after the draft? Says if he doesn't like what he sees on the highlight tape he won't watch anything else on the player, and won't watch more highlight tape until next February. Wow! My experience with scouting at the high school and college lever demanded not just watching highlight tapes, but going to games, talking to coaches and teammates, etc. This process takes all year even at those levels, so I can just imagine the kind of efforts NFL scouts put in. It's way more involved that a few months of watching highlight tapes. The 49ers scouting department has to be THE most frustrated scouting department in the league. In a good way it confirms why I think they reached for Stribling and Height. But in a bad way it confirms why I thought they grossly reached for Black and Willis. This interview also confirms to me that the scouting department has very little say regarding the earlier picks, but also explains why this team has had relative success in the later rounds.

You're right @49ers81, we can no longer wonder why they made these selections. This interview makes it worse. It's an indictment about the 49ers talent evaluation and draft process, and the best evidence available that shows why Shanny should get out of the roster building and draft business.

If Shanny knows (and openly admits) that all he can spare is a few months of highlight tape watching on a player then he has no business with the final say on who gets drafted.