Why I Pressed John Lynch on Reach Picks in NFL Draft

We all were thinking it.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

I respect John Lynch.

He's one of the greatest safeties in the history of the NFL, and he helped build two NFC Championship teams. He gets tremendous credit for those two things.

He also bears responsibility for the 49ers' terrible draft record the past five years. I'm not saying he's the only one to blame. I'm not even saying he has the final say on draft picks. That person very well might be Kyle Shanahan.

But Lynch is the general manager. And for him to keep his job, the 49ers have to start drafting well, particularly in the first few rounds. Because the only Pro Bowler the 49ers have drafted since 2021 is Brock Purdy, who was the last pick in the draft. He was a miracle.

Unfortunately for Lynch and the 49ers, they tend to reach in the Draft more than any other team in the NFL. This is a fact. They routinely draft players 50 to 100 spots earlier than they were projected to get picked.

This year was no different. In Round 2, they drafted wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling, who was projected to get picked in Round 4. And in Round 3, they drafted running back Kaelon Black, who was projected to get picked in Round 6. This is why most experts agree that the 49ers had the worst draft in the league.

Lynch has been the 49ers' general manager for 10 years. By now, 49ers fans are keenly aware of his tendency to reach. So, his reaches were a huge topic of discussion online and in real life all throughout the Draft.

When it ended, I felt I had no choice but to ask Lynch to explain his questionable draft process. Someone had to.

"Your draft board seems to deviate quite a bit from the consensus," I said. "Why are you confident with that given your track record drafting the last few years? It seems like it leads to you making reaches."

Lynch frowned. "Well, I appreciate that you think that," he said sarcastically. "Depends on whose consensus. We got consensus in this building. That's the that's the consensus I care about.”

I didn't expect Lynch to answer so defensively. But in retrospect, what was he supposed to say? Something like, "Listen, Grant, Kyle makes the picks. He doesn't let me take the best player available. He insisted that we take De'Zhaun Stribling. I worked extremely hard to convince Shanahan not to take Stribling at pick No. 27. We got him to trade down twice before taking him, which wasn't easy. I wanted to trade down a third time, but Kyle refused. Talk to him about this. He's the culprit."

Unfortunately for Lynch, the 49ers won't fire Shanahan -- he's too good of a coach. Instead, they might take personnel power away from him and bring in a new general manager with extensive personnel experience -- not a former player turned announcer like Lynch.

Make no mistake -- the 49ers wouldn't be where they are right now without Lynch. He was important to them the past decade. But he might not fit into their future plans if he can't produce a Pro Bowler in this draft, and it sounds like he knows it.

Tough business.