Well, that was certainly something. The 49ers, as they put it, “sat on their hands” for Day 2 and watched and waited as a number of players they were discernibly interested in came and went.
By the end of it, they’d selected a promising edge rusher, took a running back far higher than he was projected to go and added a speedy, if not wiry receiver.
With Alex Mack’s retirement status up in the air, or at least postured as undecided, San Francisco eschewed offensive line entirely. Without a clear partner to Jimmie Ward at safety and with Ward entering the final year of his deal, safety was also left very much un-dealt with.
The backdrop to all of this is Deebo Samuel’s very public huffing and puffing, Jimmy Garoppolo still hanging around and an unaddressed interior offensive line group that is mostly questions at this stage.
So, Shanahan and Lynch took their usual podium places after the draft and responded to questions.
Staying put
By all accounts, the 49ers were in a fair bit of anguish sitting at 61 and again at both 93 and 105. They did not find the correct opportunity to move up.
As Lynch described it: “It was just miserable.”
It’s an unfamiliar situation for a 49ers organization which has done a fair bit of wheeling and dealing in past years and had not entered a draft without a first-round pick prior to this one. The organization as a whole hadn’t entered a draft without a first-round pick since 1996, the year they drafted Terrell Owens.
“We’re not used to sitting back and waiting and it was tough, but I’m glad we did because it allowed us to make these three picks today,” Lynch said. “It was a long wait to 61, but glad we did it, glad we had that patience.”
Shanahan’s tenor was similar. He expressed the internal battle of wanting to leverage up and select a player that the organization could feel confident would help on a roster without too many holes.
But they stayed put and took three bites of the apple, just as they were scheduled to do.
“You sit there and you have to wait two days to get to 61 and you’re watching all these players you studied for months just go left and right and it is really hard,” Shanahan said. “Especially when you feel that you’ve got a good team and it’s not gonna be easy for a lot of later round guys to make it, to trade your picks away just to go get one that you know could fill a hole that you need.”
Shanahan said he was happy the 49ers took three players instead of one, which, at least philosophically, is sound draft thinking. There is a gross level of uncertainty in who will and will not make it as an NFL player, so giving yourself as many swings as possible is generally the right approach, even if it backfires.
Drake Jackson at 61
Jackson going to the 49ers at 61 has been generally viewed as something of a steal. The 49ers did not expect him to be there and Jackson’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus tried to make it seem like he wasn’t supposed to be there. Rosenhaus shot a classically obtuse message to Adam Schefter, which Schefter — as he is wont to do — obliged.
Surprise! Or not. The messaging intended to paint Jackson as a fast riser and someone likely to sneak into the first round. That did not happen, but the consensus seems to be that the 49ers got a very good player at 61.
Jackson was affable and energetic in his post-draft interview with reporters, describing San Francisco’s call as being an out of body experience.
In sum, the 49ers got a player whose athletic upside is monstrous, and who they were able to bring into their building beforehand and get a feel for on one of their top-30 visits.
John Lynch said Jackson got the full Kris Kocurek experience, mimicking the nose-to-nose approach the always-intense Kocurek takes to meeting prospects. Lynch joked they had to pull Jackson out of the room to “save him” from Kocurek.
But that anecdote belies the fact that Jackson, whose best season came as a freshman at USC, has the raw traits and on-tape speed and wiggle to become a terrific complement to Nick Bosa.
Much of that calculation lies on Kocurek, who has maximized the likes of Kerry Hyder Jr. and Arden Key, the former of whom has returned. You give Kocurek someone with elite traits and willingness to learn and it’s likely going to work out.
On taking a projected Day 3 running back in Round 3
So, uh, what was with the Tyrion Davis-Price selection, guys?
Davis-Price was projected by most mocks, evaluators and folks alike to be a Day 3 talent. ESPN had him as the 175th overall player and 14th running back. The highest grade he got was as the 8th-best running back from NFL.com, with four other backs still undrafted rated above him.
But the 49ers took the LSU product at 93. The criticism of the pick is not that they couldn’t use a running back or even draft one that high. But that consensus suggests the 49ers could have drafted back even a few picks and still got their man.
Both Shanahan and Lynch acknowledged the process is sort of a guessing game in terms of figuring out how the league views players. But they view it as a “get your guy” situation, even if, realistically, it’s woefully bloated value.
“I understand everyone’s ranks guys and there’s a perception of when everyone’s gonna go but the reality of when someone’s gonna go is when someone picks them and you don’t know that till it happens,” Shanahan said. “You see it all over and people freak out and stuff but a lot of these guys are really good players. You saw that with New England in the first round.”
Lynch said it’s about how the 49ers value the player and their ideas of how they fit into their team.
“We have a lot of different layers and part of our process is to try to figure that out, but ultimately do you like the player? Do you have a vision for that player? And does he fit something you think can not only improve your team but is that is that the best fit for us and at the time?” Lynch said. “We just thought he was a tremendous fit for exactly what we’re looking for. And I think a great complement to Elijah.”
They believe the fit is excellent because, as Shanahan said, you can never have enough running backs.
But Davis-Price also showed excellent acceleration, which is generally viewed as more valuable than out and out speed for running backs, especially in an outside zone system that demands decisive running with speed through the line of scrimmage.
There was also the toughness they believe was shown on tape. You can’t have a soft running back.
But that all ties into a grander idea which is that, perhaps, these picks were a proactive measure to both let Deebo Samuel know they intend to lessen the running back load, and also, to ensure they won’t need him as desperately to fill that void.
Which brings us to…
Trying to take the load off Deebo with selections?
With the bookend selection of SMU’s lightning-quick receiver Danny Gray, there was a question of whether the 49ers were preparing for a situation where Deebo Samuel might hold out.
Or if Samuel doesn’t hold out, there’s still the question of finding additional depth so that he doesn’t have to be leaned upon as the entirety of the offense.
Shanahan was asked whether Davis-Price and Gray can be viewed as picks intended to lighten Samuel’s load.
“I think they both can,” Shanahan said.
He expressed his view as running back as a clear position of need and later pointed to the other part of Davis-Price’s attribute tree: his physicality. Shanahan positioned that in the same thought as Samuel’s usage as a running back last season.
“The physicality that he brings gives you the chance to have a very physical one-two punch.” Shanahan said. “I thought Deebo helped us do that towards the end of last year bringing that in but you don’t want that to be just your one-two punch. You gotta bring in some backs to do that even though I think we have some guys on the roster that have a chance.”
It’s clear that adding another running back, while necessary, is not unrelated to Samuel’s purported desire to get away from being used as a “wide back,” even if that’s why he’s so valuable. Running backs get injured. Receivers get paid.
Where the Deebo situation stands
Most of the presser, of course, revolved around Samuel, who displayed some newly minted, assuredly high-quality shirts that read “Deebo Is Back,” in Vegas on Friday, which hilariously imply he left.
It’s another head-shaking wrinkle to the bizarre situation which Samuel and his agent, Tory Dandy, appear to have misjudged.
They went with a scorched earth approach and did it so close to the draft that there was no real viable avenue for a deal to get done. Had they asked out around the start of free agency, when the Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill trades went down, they might have stood a fighting chance.
Instead, they waited too long, overreacted to the natural pace of negotiations and now are stuck slinking back to the Niners saying, “Hey, can we talk?”
Shanahan’s reaction was the same as most of ours.
“Yeah, I was real surprised [he requested a trade],” Shanahan said. “I think John spoke a lot on that last week. I think I felt pretty much the same. We were surprised but also once it does happen, you know this business, so it can’t surprise you too much. Yeah, we were disappointed a little bit, but it’s part of this business.”
He also acknowledged that yes, the 49ers considered trading him. Part of the process of a player putting in a trade request means you have to consider it to see if the requisite value is out there.
But Shanahan couldn’t have been more clear; that value was not out there.
“We tried to look into all the aspects of what people were willing to do and nothing was even remotely close that we thought would be fair for us or fair for the Niners,” Shanahan said.
The situation has not stopped simmering, but with the prospect of a viable trade package off the table, it is obviously cooling.
Shanahan intimated that part of the issue is that he hasn’t been able to talk to Samuel in person and things get twisted with social media and reports coming into play.
He said he hasn’t talked to Samuel “in a couple of weeks,” but expressed some optimism that they could come together and have more rational discussions about his future with the franchise given their “great relationship.”
That said, it’s not the 49ers who have to build bridges. Samuel was the one who tried to burn it down and by all accounts, it backfired.
So while Shanahan loves Samuel the person and the player, Samuel the negotiator might have cost himself. Shanahan’s implication was that the 49ers — who have proven themselves as awfully stubborn — will not be forced into a position that doesn’t benefit them.
“I think we know him pretty well. He knows us pretty well,” Shanahan said. “Things haven’t been the best over the last couple of months through outside perception. But I see that happen a lot in this league, especially in contract situations. So you try not to overreact one way or the other on it. You try to be patient with it because emotions can get high with people especially when you care about people and a lot’s riding on it.”
“But that’s what you got to make sure you don’t react to. You got to make sure that when it’s all said and done, first and foremost you do what’s right for the organization and then second of all you try to do try to get a win win for both sides.”
Again, Shanahan loves Samuel, but he’s loyal to the 49ers. If Samuel isn’t, well, he’s going to find himself diametrically opposed to the man providing him the best opportunity to get that bag he desperately wants and deserves.
Will this situation be mended?
“We’ll see,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully, when it’s all said and done, we’ll get the best thing for the Niners, the best thing for Deebo and hopefully that’s the same thing because we’d love to keep going how we’ve been.”
Alex Mack’s status
Ah yes, there are a couple items besides Deebo. Alex Mack’s potential retirement is still up in the air, but the 49ers continue to provide a tone that suggests he will retire. They said Mack hasn’t decided, but also implied they know what he will decide.
“I don’t think a final decision [has been made],” Lynch said. “We’ve been in contact with Alex and had another discussion with him in the last couple of days. And so I’d still describe that as fluid, but I think we’ve collected all the information we needed to collect coming into this draft.”
The lingering nature of Jimmy Garoppolo
Last, but certainly not least, there’s still James Richard Garoppolo, who at the very least got himself a nice Subway deal over the summer that has somehow played more times than the amount of times people have speculated over his feature.
The 49ers may have taken a blow with the Carolina Panthers trading up to get Matt Corral. There are also reports the Panthers have gotten into somewhat advanced discussions with Baker Mayfield, so there’s a question as to whether they want a competitive quarterback with Corral as their future guy.
But, hey, maybe the Panthers go with ole Jimbo? Lynch didn’t reveal much on Friday, except express his affection for Nate Sudfeld, who the 49ers guaranteed $2 million to this offseason.
“I mean, we’ve said all along, it’s gonna take the right deal to get us to move him,” Lynch said. “And he’s part of our team right now. So we’re excited about that. We look at the totality of that position and we feel really good about it right now. We’re extremely excited about Trey, excited about Jimmy and Nate Sudfeld. There’s a lot to like about him, as well. So we’re excited about that group.”
Will Garoppolo get traded? Will Alex Mack retire? Will Deebo Samuel sign an extension? Check in on tomorrow’s episode of 49ers draft nonsense.
