Trent Dilfer joked with Fitz and Brooks he did not want the 49ers GM job because all of his GM friends around the league are completely miserable.
But Dilfer did provide some perspective Tuesday on KNBR 680 about his former Tampa Bay Buccaneer teammate John Lynch, and why it’s not right to compare him to former Lions executive and Fox broadcaster Matt Millen.
“I don’t know where to go on this one. I’m still kind of processing it all,” Dilfer said. “People are using the Matt Millen analogy and I don’t think that’s correct. Matt went into Detroit with total control. John is going in to try and be the glue and bring different departments together while he learns how to do this.
“General manager has a lot of different faces throughout the league. My take on it is, his face is going to be the public face of the franchise. He is a tremendous leader and a bring-guys-together guy. So I think he definitely can be a great glue guy, bridging the gap between downstairs and upstairs, personnel to coach, different departments. Strength department. Training room department. Business side. Bridging all those gaps. Bringing everyone together.”
Earlier this Millen told San Francisco Chronicle reporter Eric Branch that his learning curve was steep and that someone will need to teach Lynch the ropes — which the latter seems ready and willing to accept.
But what about this 49ers roster? Who should be kept and who will Lynch give walking papers to?
“They lack sizzle. They lack twitch. They lack glamour playmaking,” Dilfer said. “That’s why they get labeled as a bad roster. And that’s not untrue. They do definitely lack difference makers from an athletic standpoint. Where they’re strong, is in their bigs. They have big linemen. They have strong guys. They have thick-jointed guys. They have guys in the old (Bill) Parcells role, and Bill Belichik does it, that is a model of football player that a lot of people around the NFL admire.
“I think John’s challenge and the new personnel people’s challenge will be, how many of those people fit into a Kyle Shanahan vision of football? And then, where are some of these other guys that maybe weren’t highly productive, weren’t developed — as I said earlier in the last two coaching staffs. Where do maybe they kind of fit in Kyle Shanahan’s vision of football?
“Remember when Kyle went to Cleveland? That was a decimated roster offensively and he still had a lot of success offensively. He was still able to get a lot from a little because he said a Taylor Gabriel and the juice he had. He saw (Isaiah Crowell) and saw the advantages and utilize strengths. So whose to say that’s not some of the guys they have on this roster? I mean, I think Carlos Hyde is going to be a huge fan of Kyle Shanahan.”
