Some "experts" weren't impressed with the San Francisco 49ers' approach in the 2025 NFL Draft. Both Pro Football Focus and Sports Illustrated gave the team a disappointing "D" grade, clearly underwhelmed by the 49ers' 11-player draft haul.

But not everyone shared that opinion. Chris Simms, who has been critical of the team this offseason, offered a much more enthusiastic take. He praised the 49ers' draft strategy, saying the organization appears to be returning to its identity.


"I thought the San Francisco 49ers absolutely crushed the draft," Simms told Mike Florio on Pro Football Talk Live. "They got back to a little bit of what we talked about on Friday morning—their roots. This is what they were.

"When [head coach Kyle] Shanahan and [general manager John] Lynch took over, this is how the team was formed. A bunch of badasses on the defensive side of the ball. Let's accumulate that, let's kick the crap out of everybody else."

The 49ers leaned into defense early, using their first five picks on that side of the ball before turning their attention to the offense. Notably absent from the draft plan was a clear solution at offensive tackle, an area many fans and draft experts viewed as a priority, especially with quarterback Brock Purdy likely to become the highest-paid player in franchise history.

"They'll get over to the offensive side of the ball here, but Shanahan's awesome, and he can cover some holes over there with how he coaches and does that," Simms continued. "Let's get this (the defense) going first."

Simms then highlighted the defensive picks that stood out most.


"[DE] Mykel Williams, big badass MOFO off the edge from Georgia to start," he said. "[DT] Alfred Collins, big bad ass MOFO from Texas in the middle of the defense. [LB] Nick Martin, our kind of guy that we talk about with the 49ers—linebacker, Oklahoma State. A little smaller, kamikaze, throws his body around everywhere. CJ West, a great D-tackle from Indiana, who's really good, undersized, disrupt-the-play kind of guy.

"Got a wide receiver, got a running back later on in the draft, but I thought they did a really good job of addressing their defense and getting some guys that are going to help them out right away and in the future."

H/t to Joaquin Ruiz of NBC Sports Bay Area for the find.



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