How Robert Saleh will Help the 49ers Decide which Players to Draft

Robert Saleh won't just run the 49ers defense next season. He'll help run the draft as well.

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh (right) talks with San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan (left) before the game at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Robert Saleh won't just run the 49ers defense next season. He'll help run the draft as well.

Saleh is more than just a coach and a coordinator. He also functions as a scout for the 49ers, particularly on defense. He watches film of all the players and has opinions about which ones fit his system, and so general manager John Lynch asks for Saleh's input during the draft.

"It gives a lot of comfort," Lynch said. "Robert's a really good football coach and I think has a lot more experience now than when we last left him. And so, it's been really fun being in the draft meetings and also hearing how Robert's evolved.

"It's not the same as when he left, and that's what good coaches do, they constantly evolve and hearing what he wants in certain positions and articulating, it's very clear with Robert, and that's always a good thing for someone like me and our scouts and our front office is we really try as an organization to make people be able to verbalize, very clearly, what they're looking for at each position. And Robert and his staff, they're very clear with what they want, with what they need, with what they aspire to be. And that’s very helpful."

Lynch and the 49ers front office empower coaches and coordinators more than most teams. The idea is that the coaches will be more invested in the players' success if they pick the players themselves. And there's some truth to this theory.

Let's see how Saleh picks on defense this year.