When the San Francisco 49ers' first-round selection came around, even after trading down one spot to No. 14 overall, most expected general manager John Lynch and company to draft a receiver. Both Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb had, somewhat surprisingly, fallen to them.

San Francisco seemed to be sitting pretty, and fans were ecstatic and eager to see which player the team would select.


The choice ended up being defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw. One pick later, Jeudy went to the Denver Broncos while the Dallas Cowboys, shocked to see Lamb fall to them at No. 17, jumped at the chance to draft the playmaker.

The 49ers did select a receiver later in the first-round — Brandon Aiyuk of Arizona State. He's a player who was among the best-ranked on Lynch's and Shanahan's draft board.

The 49ers would have been willing to select Aiyuk at No. 13, had the draft gone differently. So, when Lynch and Shanahan saw him still available in the early 20s of the first round, they knew they had to move up from No. 31 to grab him.

Lynch spoke with Peter King this week and explained just how highly they thought of the young receiver.

"He and CeeDee, at the end of the day, we had almost evenly matched," Lynch told King. "It was hard not to take CeeDee because he had so much more production in college and in high school. He was one of the most prolific high school players in Texas history. But Aiyuk is a guy that just the more we watched, the more fond we grew of him."


Lynch explained that Aiyuk's combination of strength, speed, and ability to separate made him so appealing.

The GM added: "I think it was two days before, I said to Kyle, 'You know what? I know people might raise some eyebrows, but I really don't care. At 13, if we get stuck, and we can't trade out, I'd be perfectly happy taking Aiyuk.' And he said, 'I'm so glad you said that because I feel the same way.'"

In the end, the 49ers ended up with two players they would have been willing to draft at No. 13 overall.

You can listen to the entire interview with Lynch below.

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