Not too bad for 2 first-timers
The 49ers wanted to select Mississippi defensive lineman D.J. Jones in the sixth round Saturday, but general manager John Lynch had to be careful with the pick.
That’s because Mississippi had two players named D.J. Jones on its roster and the rookie GM didn’t want to make a novice mistake.
Said Lynch, sitting next to head coach Kyle Shanahan: “We were very clear that we wanted the defensive tackle from Ole Miss, not the other guy.”
At that point, Shanahan interrupted, smiling, as if to apologize his for his friend’s rude-
ness: “No offense to the other guy.”
Lynch laughed: “No offense to the other guy. … We just didn’t want him at that point.”
The post-draft giveand-take offered more evidence to support an opinion that became popular during the three-day event: The new men work well together.
The 49ers emerged from the first collaborative draft of the LynchShanahan era with 10 players, two high-end 2018 draft picks and kudos from the football community.
On Friday, after the second round, Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman, via Twitter, said an NFL GM was eating crow because of Lynch, who was hired in January with zero executive experience: “I thought he’d suck. I was wrong.”
When the comment was relayed to Lynch on Saturday, he responded with a mock-celebratory tone: “I don’t suck!”
Lynch had reason to smile after a draft in which his first-ever pick Thursday night was preceded by a too-good-to-betrue trade with the Bears.
In exchange for moving down one spot, from No. 2 to No. 3 overall, the 49ers received a haul that, after more trading, Lynch parlayed into second- and third-round picks in 2018. It also netted a seventhround pick this year, used to select Miami defensive back Adrian Colbert, and a fourth-round pick Lynch used to trade up three spots to select Alabama inside linebacker Reuben Foster in the first round, at No. 31.
The 49ers emerged from the first day with Stanford defensive lineman Solomon Thomas (No. 3 overall) and Foster, whom Lynch said were the top players on their board after the Browns took Texas A&M passrusher Myles Garrett at No. 1.
However, the 49ers probably didn’t emerge from the draft with their quarterback of the future or an elite pass-rusher, two ingredients they lack and that elite teams need. Iowa’s C.J. Beathard, their late-third-round pick, was in the second tier of QBs. Their lone passrusher, Utah’s Pita Taumeopenu, was a sixthround selection.
Of course, after a 2-14 season, the 49ers have made it clear they aren’t in win-now mode. And in 2018, Year 2 of this rebuilding project, they will have five picks in the first three rounds.
Lynch didn’t dismiss the idea that the 2018 draft stash could be used to acquire a potential franchise QB in what is expected to be a better crop of players at the position. He also hinted picks could be used to acquire an experienced QB.
“I think that’s in the back of your mind,” Lynch said. “I think there are multiple ways that we’ll explore to continue to improve at that position . ... I think we’re gaining a lot of ammunition to go acquire players ... but it will give us some flexibility to do a lot of things.”
Lynch showed he wasn’t afraid to make a deal. He swung six trades during the draft, one shy of a franchise record. The former NFL safety who arose at 3:30 a.m. Thursday admitted to fatigue: “I feel like a played a game and then some.”
The trade flurry was initiated by the deal with the Bears, which initially left the 49ers with 12 picks. It gave Lynch flexibility to move around the draft, and he used extra picks to get offensive players Shanahan coveted.
Lynch has final say on the draft, but he stressed that he and Shanahan would have a true partnership. In fact, Lynch said before the draft that they had established a tiebreaker in the case of disagreements.
On Friday, after using their first three picks on defensive players, Lynch sent a seventh-rounder to the Vikings to move up five spots to select Beathard. On Saturday, Lynch sent a fifth-round pick to the Colts to move up 22 spots to grab Utah running back Joe Williams in the fourth round.
Shanahan presumably determines the 49ers’ course of action on quarterbacks, and he encouraged Lynch to do more homework on Williams.
The extra picks “gave us the ammunition to win C.J. Beathard and Joe Williams — guys we really wanted,” Lynch said. “We could say, ‘Let’s go up and get that guy so we know we get him,’ and still feel good about the quantity of picks we had.”
Lynch has reason to feel good, but it remains to be seen if some of the chances he took will pay off.
On Thursday, he took Foster, whose drop in the draft was tied partly to character concerns. On Friday, he selected Colorado’s Ahkello Witherspoon, a physically gifted cornerback whose lack of tackling ferocity bothered Lynch before the draft. On Saturday, he drafted Williams, a player Lynch initially dismissed because he had left the team before his senior season.
If the 49ers did their homework and Lynch’s instincts were correct on those three, his honeymoon period could be extended indefinitely. If not, many might point to his inexperience.
But it seems safe to say this: He doesn’t suck.