49ers hoping top picks are ready to step right in
The 49ers have selected two defensive linemen with topthree draft picks since general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan arrived in 2017.
One was Nick Bosa, the 2019 Defensive Rookie of the Year. The other was Solomon Thomas, who has six sacks in 46 career games.
The 49ers have drafted two wide receivers in the second round since Lynch and Shanahan were hired.
One was Deebo Samuel, who had the most receiving yards by a 49ers rookie since Jerry Rice (1985) last year. The other was Dante Pettis, who had 11 catches in his second season in 2019 and disappeared into Shanahan’s doghouse.
The point? The 49ers just used a firstround pick on a defensive lineman who needs to be more like Bosa than Thomas. And they just used a
firstround pick on a wide receiver who needs to be more like Samuel than Pettis.
Yes, Shanahan and Lynch have earned high marks for deftly transforming a 214 team into an NFC champion, but, like 31 other teams, the 49ers aren’t immune to messing up premium draft picks.
That is relevant because the 49ers’ offseason plan to maintain last year’s excellence involves relying on a rookie defensive lineman and wide receiver to replace proven commodities.
On Thursday, a month after trading AllPro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Colts, they selected South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw with the No. 14 pick. They followed 11 picks later by selecting Arizona State wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who will be expected to fill the cleats of Pro Bowler Emmanuel Sanders (now with the Saints).
Given their salarycap crunch this offseason, the 49ers appear to have done well to keep the gang largely together: They will return 18 of 22 starters and they could upgrade at two of those positions.
On Saturday, they traded for Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams, 31, after longtime Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Staley, 35, retired because of health issues. At right guard, promising lineman Daniel Brunskill, 26, is in line to replace bangedup Mike Person, 31, who was released in March.
As for the other two spots? Plenty of fans, hopped up on draft optimism, assume Kinlaw and Aiyuk have it covered.
However, Buckner netted the No. 13 pick in a trade and received a fouryear, $84 million contract from Indianapolis for a reason: He was a secondteam AllPro last year who earned the award given to the MVP on a 133 team, and he missed one game in four seasons with the 49ers.
Kinlaw is an imposing physical force who was a firstteam AllAmerican last year, but he lacks polish and has a concerning medical file that includes hip and back issues. He didn’t participate at the combine because of knee tendinitis, and multiple teams flagged both of his knees as at risk for arthritis, NFL Network reported.
As for Sanders, 33, he signed a twoyear, $16 million contract with New Orleans — and netted a nice draftpick package for the Broncos last year in their trade with the 49ers — because of his stellar resume: He’s a twotime Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion who has had at least 66 catches in six of the past seven seasons.
Aiyuk enters the NFL with a somewhat skimpy resume. He had a brilliant senior year, but that was his lone season of strong production at the Division I level; he was a junior college transfer (Sierra CollegeRocklin) who had 33 receptions and 474 yards in his first season at ASU in 2018.
Both Kinlaw and Aiyuk could fill the voids capably, but perhaps not in 2020. Many rookies, particularly wide receivers, take time to adjust to the NFL.
Consider the players at the same position who were drafted last year in or around Kinlaw and Aiyuk’s spots. Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, selected No. 13 overall, made 14 starts and had 30 tackles and two sacks. Baltimore wide receiver Marquise Brown, taken at No. 25, ranked 78th in the NFL in receptions (46) and 69th in receiving yards (584).
Those decent debuts might serve as reasonable expectations for Kinlaw and Aiyuk.
However, the 49ers might need more from the rookies, given how finances prevented them from upgrading the roster. For example, their biggest freeagent acquisition was wide receiver Travis Benjamin, and they didn’t have a second, third or fourthround pick in last week’s draft.
Their biggest additions, beyond Williams, are Kinlaw and Aiyuk, firstrounders tasked with replacing two players who were big reasons they reached last season’s Super Bowl.
“I think we maneuvered enough to be able to maintain most of the (roster) we had,” Shanahan said. “We definitely added a few new pieces who aren’t just guys trying to beat out the last two guys on the roster. We’ve got some (rookies) who can come in and be difference makers, too.”
“We definitely added a few new pieces who aren’t just guys trying to beat out the last two guys on the roster.”
Kyle Shanahan, 49ers head coach