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How the 49ers' Draft Strategy Changed Once Adam Peters Left

With Peters in Washington, it seems clear that the 49ers coaching staff made most of the personnel decisions this offseason.

Grant Cohn

Feb 27, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters talks to the
Feb 27, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters talks to the / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
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It never was clear exactly how much influence Adam Peters had when the 49ers drafted. But now that he's the Washington Commanders general manager, it's clear how the 49ers' draft strategy has changed without him.

This year, the 49ers drafted zero underclassmen. Every player they selected played at least four years of college, and some played five. Granted, the Draft had fewer underclassmen this year than usual, but the 49ers still made a concerted effort to take the oldest players they could find. That's a big departure from the way the 49ers have drafted in the past.

Some of the 49ers' biggest whiffs the past few years were draft picks who were underclassmen -- Drake Jackson, Ty Davis-Price and Trey Lance, to name a few. These three were all young players with upside who needed to be developed. They're the kind of players a scout would like because the scout doesn't have to coach them up.

A coach would prefer an older prospect who's developed already because the coach understands how difficult it is to develop young players. The NFL is not a developmental league, and when a prospect with upside doesn't pan out, the coach often takes the blame.

With Peters in Washington, it seems clear that the 49ers coaching staff made most of the personnel decisions this offseason. And so in free agency, they signed lots of players over 30, and in the draft they took lots of players who are 23.

We'll see if this new strategy pays off.

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Grant Cohn

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.