Why Kyle Shanahan Wanted to Defend the 49ers' 2026 Draft Publicly

Kyle Shanahan oddly conducted an interview a week after the NFL draft, which he never does.

Dec 22, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan leaves the field after the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

It’s been difficult to justify the picks the San Francisco 49ers made in the 2026 NFL draft.

Usually, the 49ers will make a few outlandish picks. It’s nothing new with them. However, this year, they doubled down on it by making almost every draft selection out of left field.

As a result, their draft has drawn a ton of backlash. It’s reached insane levels. From social media posts of fans being harsh, to a bunch of pundits, like Warren Sharp, writing critical articles about their draft.

It’s no wonder that Kyle Shanahan decided to hop on with Rich Eisen to try to defend and justify their picks. He sees all of that and doesn’t want the wildfire of criticism to continue.

Kyle Shanahan copies Sean McVay

I don’t think Sean McVay is thrilled with the Ty Simpson pick 🫣

(h/t @benboomjamin) pic.twitter.com/qKRpa3PtMn

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) April 24, 2026

This is similar to what Sean McVay did after the Los Angeles Rams made the crazy selection for TY Simpson. McVay looked incredibly annoyed and disappointed during his press conference after the selection.

The very next day, he began doing damage control for the way his body language looked. That’s exactly what Shanahan is doing now with all of the criticism the 49ers have been receiving with their draft.

Except, unlike McVay, Shanahan’s having to defend nearly his whole draft. McVay just had his one selection, even though some of their other draft picks were questionable as well.

Shanahan never conducts interviews following the NFL draft. But this time, he conveniently decided he wanted to do one? This reeks of public relations.

Shanahan the fireman

Mar 30, 2026; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan during the 2026 NFL Annual League Meeting at the Arizona Biltmore. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Only someone who cares about their image would concern themselves with public relations, which Shanahan does. He always has, even if he plays down social media.

He doesn’t like looking like a fool through football decisions, especially personnel ones. If he didn’t care, then the 49ers would’ve released kicker Jake Moody much sooner than they did.

But the reason they didn't is that he was afraid of Moody thriving elsewhere and looking like a fool for releasing him. Shanahan cares about his image. There’s no debating that.

His appearance on The Rich Eisen Show further cements that. And the reality is, he doesn’t really help the 49ers look much better for the draft picks they made.

It is awesome to hear some transparency about what goes down with the NFL draft process. But Shanahan was better off letting everyone talk and getting on with his business.

Now he’s shown that he cares and it’ll be a talking point with this draft class and others in the future.

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