SANTA CLARA — How much have the 49ers changed their perception of being a secretive society? GM John Lynch invited the media into the team’s draft room for Monday’s scheduled interview session.
It was a sign of how the times have changed for the 49ers, but as Lynch said during a 29-minute interview on Monday, now it’s game week. Or better known as judgment day for an NFL talent elevator like himself.
Nothing Lynch said was groundbreaking, but there were definitely a few notes to take with us heading into Thursday.
1. Lynch is confident any trade rumor hasn’t been leaked from his building
“Assumptions,” said Lynch of all the scuttlebutt from Ian Rapoport and other insiders about the 49ers taking a quarterback. “Nothing has left this building. I think in each situation it says sources. I don’t know who those sources are, because there are only a few people that know. We feel real good about that.”
Lynch is a fantastic poker player and I wouldn’t put it past him if he’s the one selectively leaking information — that’s partly the job of a GM in 2017. As of right now, my hunch is that Solomon Thomas is a smokescreen, even though he’s widely considered the safest pick at No. 2. As transparent as Lynch wants to appear with the media, he and Kyle Shanahan can be devious. They want their pick to be a surprise, and they want the pick to be bold.
“Kyle is smart, intelligent, but also aggressive,” Lynch said. “You can’t play scared, I think in this league and life in particular.”
2. The 49ers have it narrowed down to 2-3 players at No. 2, have just under 200 draftable players on their finished draft board, and Shanahan and Lynch have a tiebreaker in place if they have a player disagreement
My guess about No. 2: Lynch settled on a defensive player, Shanahan settled on an offensive player and the rest of the scouting department debated what was the best pick. That’s a fair way to start this regime. Lynch said there were some strong opinions expressed before settling on the final few names.
Lynch did concede he has to be more careful drafting players with character concerns in Year 1 of a rebuild — dang, Reuben Foster, I really thought you could’ve thrived here. On Sunday, a feeling came over Lynch that said he’s done with the preparation and ready to make picks.
.So about that tiebreaker? Lynch said he felt they had to talk about it.
“I’m not trying to cop out, but it’s going to be collective,” Lynch said. “We figured out our own way to have our tiebreaker. But it’s not something that we just kind’ve put aside. Come Thursday night, ‘What do you want to do? I don’t know, what do you want to do?’ We’ve got a plan. I can tell you that.”
3. The scouting system was essentially adopted from Denver
When the 49ers first brought scouts in after the Super Bowl, Lynch was using Trent Baalke’s old grading system. But it was eventually replaced. The 49ers used Denver’s grading system, brought to Santa Clara by vice president of player personnel Adam Peters. That scouting system was actually originally developed in New England from the Josh McDaniels regime — Peters came with the once embattled head coach from the Patriots. Lynch said Shanahan was familiar with the grading system from his time in Atlanta, because Thomas Dimitroff was originally in New England.
The 49ers showed us mock ups of these scouting boards. The gesture was appreciated and the effort from the 49ers with their media relations has improved vastly in just a few months.
4. Lynch might not draft a quarterback at all
The GM said in an ideal world, Shanahan has just two quarterbacks on the roster heading into training camp (is that really true?). Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley are the only two quarterbacks on the roster. I’m having a tough time buying this one.
“There’s no absolutes there,” Lynch said.
Greg Cosell and I have both identified Miami’s Brad Kayaa as a quarterback the 49ers could target in the fourth round if they miss out on the shopping spree in the first or second.
My understanding: 49ers aren't just gonna take a QB to take one at 34. They have a guy they like. If he's not there, may wait until round 4
— Kevin Jones (@Mr_KevinJones) April 14, 2017
5. Lynch wouldn’t say if Rashard Robinson was a penciled-in starter heading into the draft
Because if he’s not, this team obviously needs a cornerback. Lynch maintained nearly every player on this roster has something to prove — even though Robinson led all rookie cornerbacks by allowing a catch once every 13.2 coverage snaps last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
What if that not-so-safe pick at the top of the draft is Marshon Lattimore? There have been several first round busts at corner — notably Cleveland’s Justin Gilbert at No. 8 in 2014 — but this team absolutely needs a No. 1 lock-down option they feel strongly about.
6. The 49ers will perform several internal dress rehearsal mock drafts the next few days
According to Lynch, there will be trade scenarios involved and every last option will be ran through.
7. The perfect prospect does not exist
And that was the thing Lynch said he realized and learned about the draft process. This is all a projection. Nobody is perfection. Nobody is assured success in the NFL. The will be character concerns with some players taken.
“Somebody who fits everyone of those criteria, it just doesn’t happen,” Lynch said. “It’s not a reality. I’m sure there were a lot of questions about me when I came into the league. You try and grow comfortable. … You work really hard to take all the risk and the reward into account. That’s our job. If we do it well, we’ll be successful. If not, we’ll struggle to be.”
