49ers GM John Lynch is Shockingly Bad at Drafting in the Top 3 Rounds

This is alarming.

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The 49ers have a John Lynch problem. They just don't know it yet.

They think Lynch is an asset to the organization because he helped build a team that lost two Super Bowls. And he certainly gets credit for those rosters that came close but couldn't finish.

But now, the best players on the 49ers are getting old and breaking down, while the Seahawks and Rams are young and ascending. Suddenly, the 49ers are the third-best team in the division, and the gap between them and the teams above them could widen this offseason if the 49ers don't draft extremely well.

Unfortunately for the 49ers, Lynch is bad at drafting, especially in the first three rounds. This is a fact. We have almost 10 years of evidence to prove this.

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Since 2017, the 49ers have had 41 picks in the top three rounds. Lynch didn't draft 41 players with those picks -- he packaged some of them to move up or down or to acquire a veteran in a trade.

But of the players Lynch has selected in the past nine drafts, only three of them have gone to Pro Bowls: Nick Bosa, who was the consensus No. 1 player in the 2019 draft; Fred Warner, who was an all-time great pick; and Deebo Samuel, who had one great season and no longer is on the team.

Here is the full list of players Lynch has drafted in the top three rounds since 2017.

Solomon Thomas
Reueben Foster
Mike McGlinchey
Nick Bosa
Javon Kinlaw
Brandon Aiyuk
Trey Lance
Ricky Pearsall
Mykel Williams
Dante Pettis
Deebo Samuel
Aaron Banks
Drake Jackson
Renardo Green
Alfred Collins
Ahkello Witherspoon
CJ Beathard
Fred Warner
Tarvarius Moore
Jalen Hurd
Trey Sermon
Ambry Thomas
Ty Davis-Price
Danny Gray
Ji'Ayir Brown
Jake Moody
Cam Latu
Dominick Puni
Nick Martin
Upton Stout

That's all Lynch has to show for nine years of drafting in the top three rounds. ChatGPT probably could have done a better job.

To be fair, Lynch also drafted some diamonds in the rough, namely George Kittle and Brock Purdy. But those two picks don't outweigh all of Lynch's whiffs in the first few rounds.

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In addition, he also traded picks for Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams, and those were great trades. He also traded second-round picks for Jimmy Garoppolo and Dee Ford, who weren't that good for the 49ers, but at least they made an impact, as opposed to Solomon Thomas, Reuben Foster, Javon Kinlaw, Trey Lance, Dante Pettis, Drake Jackson, CJ Beathard, Tarvarius Moore, Jalen Hurd, Trey Sermon, Ambry Thomas, Ty Davis-Price, Danny Gray, Jake Moody, Cameron Latu and Nick Martin.

So, if Lynch can pull off another blockbuster trade for an All-Pro player such as Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, great -- the 49ers might get back to the Super Bowl next season.

But if he can't make that trade, then the 49ers can't let him draft players anymore. He's not good enough, and this offseason is too important. Because if the 49ers whiff again, they'll find themselves closer to last place in their division than first place.

They need a new general manager right now.