49ers draft recap: Shanahan, Lynch embrace better depth for NFC title defense
SANTA CLARA – No drastic measures were taken by the 49ers in the NFL Draft, nor in this spring’s free agency, nor on the hypothetical trade market.
Their roster, simply put, remains ever-ready to defend the NFC crown. A long road awaits in that regard, not to mention the potential to stop the Kansas City Chiefs’ three-peat bid.
“We did it through free agency as good as we could. We did it through the draft as good as we can,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Saturday. “Now I’m excited to focus on real football and going to work.”
These are your 2024 49ers, give or take a roster’s natural evolution leading up to, ideally, Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9 in New Orleans.
It’s been 2 1/2 months since they lost in overtime to the Chiefs with the Lombardi Trophy on the line. With all but a couple of defensive starters returning, the 49ers know the increased urgency to win a championship with such a large group of handsomely paid and highly decorated players.
“When you get close to the Super Bowl and you don’t win it, there’s always more pressure, especially from the outside in, because you’ll hear about it more,” Shanahan said. “Everyone has a certain expectation for the season, because you always want to do better the next year, and there’s not a lot of room to do better, except one more game.
“Everyone wants to get their mind to that spot. But every team is different each year, too,” Shanahan added. “You go into a year and the main thing is you don’t want to get worse. You’re always trying to get better.”
In starting Year 8 at the helm, Shanahan didn’t think the 49ers got worse this offseason. They also did not spend any bigger in free agency that Leonard Floyd’s two-year, $20 million as a starting defensive end. They did not mortgage future draft picks by climbing up from the 31st overall spot, where they took wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. And, most notably, they did not trade wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel in the face of a looming budget crisis.
General manager John Lynch noted, however, that his job has been anything but easy.
“I feel we’re always making really important decisions,” Lynch said. “That’s part of this job. It’s not easy. When a guy like Arik Armstead moves on, that’s a big move for our organization. When you trade for a Maliek Collins, that’s a big move. Every one of these draft picks, we take very seriously.”
To clarify, Armstead was released after nine seasons rather than accept a drastic pay cut, and, as a potential replacement, Collins was acquired from the Houston Texans in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick. That is as major as it got this offseason? Time will tell on the field.
“I like where our team is at,” Lynch added.
A year from now, that team could look much different, at least fiscally once quarterback Brock Purdy becomes eligible for a contract extension that could bump his annual pay from $1 million to 40 times that, or more.
“When you have players who’ve played a lot of good football these last three to five years, it becomes a problem because you have to pay guys, and it’s harder to keep carrying that,” Shanahan added. “We’re not ready to take two steps back so eventually we can take three steps forward.”.
Measured steps all offseason have blended complementary parts into a deeper team. After focusing on defensive upgrades earlier this spring, the 49ers used 5-of-8 draft picks on offensive players, some of whom could aid their special teams, too. Positions they ignored: offensive tackle, tight end, quarterback, and, surprisingly, the defensive line.
Pearsall was the splash pick of this draft class, and not merely as their first pick in the first round since the 2021 Trey Lance gamble. You see, Pearsall joins a wide receiver crew that, after weeks of trade speculation, still includes its top three incumbents in Aiyuk, Samuel and Jauan Jennings.
Lynch said after Friday’s rounds that the 49ers “didn’t entertain” trade overtures, adding that they’re “thrilled” with their receiving corps, which they further added to Saturday with the fourth-round addition of Arizona speedster Jacob Cowing, whose 5-foot-8 frame also is envisioned as a punt returner.
It’s Pearsall, more so, sketches out as the 49ers’ replacement for Ray-Ray McCloud, their No. 4 receiver and return specialist the previous two seasons who fled for the Atlanta Falcons.
Second-round pick Rendardo Green is a contact-seeking cornerback initially pegged to play inside against slot receivers, but he also has the versatility to do more, such as the role Logan Ryan played last season en route to his retirement.
As for the clamors to better protect Purdy, Lynch insisted he is “excited about our O-line group.” The 49ers traded up eight spots to take an offensive lineman, Dominick Puni, in the third round. He yielded no sacks as Kansas’ left tackle last year, but he will start his 49ers’ career as either an interior lineman or a five-position backup. Another interior offensive lineman arrived in the sixth round with USC’s Jarrett Kingston.
Saturday’s final rounds yielded five candidates to continue the 49ers’ trend of hidden gems (see: George Kittle, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, and, of course, Purdy). Fourth-round selections brought in safety Malik Mustapha, running back Isaac Guerendo, and Cowing. Linebacker Tatum Bethune was relieved to get drafted, with six picks to spare in the seventh and final round.
The 49ers dealt two fifth-round picks to move up for Guerendo, whose 4.33-second 40-yard dash made him this draft’s fastest running back. In conducting background checks with his former coaches at Wisconsin, the 49ers learned he was “a perfect fit for our culture,” according to Tariq Ahmad, who was promoted this offseason with R.J. Gillen as co-directors of player personnel following Adam Peters’ hiring as Washington’s general manager.
Guerendo is excited to learn behind NFL rushing champion Christian McCaffrey. “Obviously he’s one of the greatest backs. I was just telling my family he’s going to get annoyed with me and how many questions I’ll ask him,” Guerendo said on a video conference call. “With the amount of production he has, how consistent he is, his recovery plan … being able to pick a great back’s brain is really important.”
The 49ers did not draft the sons of their alumni, as wide receivers Luke McCaffrey (Commanders, third round) and Brenden Rice (Chargers, seventh round) went elsewhere. But they reportedly signed Terrell Owens’ son, Terique, who was an undrafted free agent and auditioned at this month’s local pro day at Levi’s Stadium.
Running back Frank Gore Jr. also went undrafted and is reportedly joining the Buffalo Bills, where his father played in 2019 after becoming the 49ers’ all-time leading rusher from 2005-14; the elder Gore participated in the 49ers’ pre-draft meetings before returning to Florida to be with his son as the draft closed.
All I needed was a shot. Charged Up
— Brenden Rice (@BrendenRice) April 27, 2024
Common themes among those drafted by the 49ers:
— All transferred colleges, except Green, who played five years at Florida State. Lynch and his staff noted how transfers were once seen as red flags for leaving programs, but now, that widespread movement has enhanced playing careers and allowed better evaluations through different schemes and positions.
— A lot of players called the 49ers a “perfect fit,” such as the second-rounder Green, who said: “They fit me. They play like some savages. They play like some dogs. Everyone flies around to the ball, everybody makes plays on the ball, and everybody comes to hit.”
— All mixed a heavy dose of respect to the current 49ers at their positions, while expressing gratitude about joining a championship-contending franchise. Similar feelings came out of free agency as the 49ers brought in reinforcements and/or replacements.
That goes for defensive linemen Leonard Floyd, Yetur Gross-Matos, Jordan Elliott and Maliek Collins; linebackers De’Vondre Campbell and Zeke Taylor; cornerbacks Rock Ya-Sin, Isaac Yiadom, and Chase Lucas; wide receiver Trent Taylor; offensive tackle Brandon Parker; tight end Eric Saubert; and, last and hopefully least important to the 2024 cause, quarterback Josh Dobbs.
Reflecting on last year, Shanahan said the 49ers saw the need to add only one starter through the draft, leading to kicker Jake Moody’s selection in the third round. This year, it was more about increasing depth or bringing in competition to make incumbent starters better.
“I feel we’re in a position that, hopefully, I don’t think we did get worse,” Shanahan said. ” We tried to keep it to where we’re there, and then it’s about what happens when we start get to work on Monday, what happens in OTAs, what happens in training camp.”