Over the course of their first draft since hiring General Manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers traded down, traded up and stood pat on their way to constructing a 10-player class that they hope will help set the foundation for better records in the future.
A great look at the machinations that went on behind those moves was provided by Peter King of TheMMQB.com. King was in the 49ers’ draft room and reported on how the two men worked with the rest of the personnel staff to identify the players they wanted and do what was necessary to bring them to the roster.
It all came off very symbiotic, which hasn’t always been the case around the 49ers in recent years. During an appearance on NFL Network Wednesday, 49ers CEO Jed York said that the three days of the draft illustrated the way things have gone since the two men joined the organization.
“I don’t know that there’s enough data to assess where are they and where do they stack against everybody else,” York said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “What I’ll say is, I think the draft was a perfect example of how they work together. And watching John and Kyle work together, and watching how the scouts and the coaches work together. I have no idea whether it was a good draft or not -- we’ll find out three years from now -- but it certainly worked out the way we wanted it to because we planned for it. We were ready. And we executed because we were all on the same page.”
It’s tough to win when there’s dysfunction among the people charged with building a winning team, so it seems the 49ers have taken a step in the right direction on that front. It’s also tough to win without talented players playing at a high level, but, as York said, the jury will remain out a little longer as far as that’s concerned.