It’s been three months since the 49ers hired general manager John Lynch, a hire so random that longtime NFL columnist Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times said he woke up to the news during Super Bowl week and thought to himself: “Huh. There must be another dude named John Lynch, because the former player and current FOX analyst surely can’t be the guy.”
He wasn’t alone. An NFL general manager revealed to Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman: “I thought he’d suck.”
And even here, on this very slice of cyberspace, a Jock Blogger furrowed his brow, writing on Jan. 31 that there was “a certain randomness to the Lynch hire that allows room for a healthy skepticism”, and noted that the hire contained “plenty of risks”, even asking, “Most important: How will you get along with Paraag?”
Yes, my home slices, that Jock Blogger was yours truly.
Now? Three months later? After the swindling of the Bears for draft picks to move back only one spot? After landing two of the top 10 players in the draft in Alabama LB Reuben Foster and Stanford DL Solomon Thomas? After daring to identify a quarterback in Iowa’s pro-style C.J Beathard and making a move for him? After taking a cornerback in Ahkello Witherspoon that Greg Cosell thinks is one of the best in the draft? After collaborating and conferring with Kyle Shanahan and ultimately showing his flexibility and drafting Shanahan’s favorite, explosive Utah running back Joe Williams?
Seems like the entire NFL community is standing back, nodding their heads in approval, and cueing up Paulie Mac’s soundboard from Ali G, the one that says: “Yo ….(snap fingers)… respect.”
Appropriate that the first prominent ex-49ers Hall of Famer to visit the Lynch/Shanahan regime in Santa Clara recently was Steve Young, since Young often says that in the NFL, “perception is reality.”
And since the day they fired Jim Harbaugh with no real plan to succeed him, the Jed York/Trent Baalke/Paraag Marathe regime had the perception of incompetence. Losses piled up. Draft picks whiffed. Coaches floundered. Let’s face it. It was more than perception. It was reality.
Jed York’s best move since hiring Harbaugh was the firing of Trent Baalke, an at-last admittance that the personnel moves were abysmal and team desperately needed an infusion of talent and scheme. But who would replace Baalke? The list of respected NFL personnel men interviewed was somewhat reassuring, and then came the bolt from the blue: John Lynch, GM.
Three months later, the perception is now that the 49ers nailed it.
Three months later, the perception is now that the 49ers have a plan.
Three months later, the perception is now that Lynch can handle an NFL Draft, that Lynch can work with Kyle Shanahan, and after the details were revealed that he and Marathe worked to pull off the Bears trade, the perception is that can even get along with the oft-mysterious figure that is Paraag.
The 49ers were even smart enough to let Peter King embed during the NFL Draft, letting King’s favorable pen write an essay describing what appeared to be a Draft Room in control.
The 49ers may not win six games this year. They don’t have their franchise quarterback, they still don’t have a game-breaking wideout, Solomon Thomas hasn’t proved he can dominate an NFL line of scrimmage, and Reuben Foster has yet to prove his shoulder injury isn’t too serious to be an NFL force for years.
But for now, 49ers fans are happy to accept the alternative: They are happy to perceive that the 49ers look to have a competent regime in place.
