Robert Saleh Confirms his Heavy Influence on the 49ers' Draft Process

The 49ers draft process is unusual.

Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh during the first quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The 49ers draft process is unusual.

They have a general manager and a big scouting department they inherited from Trent Baalke. It's an outstanding scouting department -- that's why John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan kept it. And yet, the 49ers ask their position coaches and coordinators to scout players more than just about any other team in the NFL.

Which means Robert Saleh had a heavy influence on the 49ers' first five draft picks this year, all of which were defensive players.

“That was the other reason why it was exciting to come back," Saleh said. "This organization, and no pun intended, with it being the gold standard with regard to collaboration and communication. Most buildings maybe spend a week in terms of communication between the scouting department and coaching staff with regards to the Draft. This organization will spend three to four weeks just grinding on tape, offense, defense, special teams, and going deep into the seventh-round, undrafted free agent type players.

"And I think that's why this organization has had so much success finding day-three picks that come to fruition, and even undrafted free agents that end up having success in this league. So, when it comes to finding players, this organization does a phenomenal job with collaboration. And let's be very real, there's still a process that needs to be followed.

"The board fell our way from a defensive standpoint. There were a lot of guys on offense that were graded higher that offense was excited to go get, but they got pulled off the board, And I was standing in the back of the room like, ‘Hey, I got a guy.’ It happened the way it happened, but there was tremendous collaboration through the process.”

Saleh attributes the 49ers' ability to find late-round gems to coaches' influence on the scouting process. And he may be right about that.

You also could argue that the 49ers' tendency to reach and miss on Day 1 and 2 picks is attributed to the coaches as well. Coaches aren't scouts. They don't necessarily have the ability to identify the players who will be the best in three to five years. Instead, they try to identify which players fit their scheme. And that's how they ended up with first-round picks such as Mike McGlinchey and Javon Kinlaw.

I'm sure the coaches also found lots of good players throughout the years. But their influence isn't just positive. It's mixed.