With the 2026 NFL Draft having come and gone, there have been mixed reviews about how the 49ers performed.
San Francisco did a whole lot of trading back throughout and ended up drafting eight players. While fans and analysts alike across the sport felt as if they had reached for a handful of their selections, general manager John Lynch revealed on Saturday that he only is concerned with the opinions of those within the organization.
“Well, I appreciate that you think that — it depends on whose consensus,” Lynch said to a reporter. “We’ve got consensus in this building. That’s the consensus I care about.”
Immediately after Lynch finished defending their class, Kyle Shanahan also chimed in with how confident he is in the team’s process.
“I think that was one of the coolest things with this draft, just so you don’t reach on somebody,” Shanahan said. “If there’s somebody you know you are going to take at that spot, and your consensus and all of your homework from around the league, not necessarily Twitter, media stuff.”
Among the more notable media members to question the 49ers’ draft was ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., who picked apart the team’s first three picks, consisting of Ole Miss wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling (No. 33), Texas Tech EDGE Romello Height (No. 70) and Indiana running back Kaelon Black (No. 90).
“I had mixed feelings on the 49ers kicking off Day 2 with Stribling,” wrote Kiper. “He has 4.36 speed and shows burst out of his breaks, and the pick hit on a need. But he was No. 73 on my board and the No. 12 wideout. Denzel Boston? Germie Bernard? Antonio Williams? I had a half-dozen receivers who made more sense in that spot. For the next 20-30 picks, teams were taking guys ranked ahead of him. And although there wasn’t an offensive tackle in range at No. 33, there were edge rushers, which I clocked as a bigger need than receiver.”
While teams won’t be basing their draft strategy on Kiper’s big board, the 49ers’ strategy this year may have been heavily influenced by the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as revealed by Lynch earlier in the week.
“The cool thing is, what we’ve found, you don’t need to be an expert,” Lynch said regarding AI. “Just like you at home, planning a travel itinerary. You can just ask the thing, and it can spit out some pretty good ideas. Our developers, I think we’re fortunate to be where we are, kind of at the epicenter of the innovation there, and we’ve tried to take advantage of that.
“I do think every team is probably using it in some form or fashion, and I think that will only increase as we move forward.”
Whether the team’s homework or belief in using AI will pay off is yet to be determined, but we do know that this draft class from the 49ers drew plenty of criticism.