NFL Draft: 49ers must find quality starters to ‘get that edge back’ after roster purge
SANTA CLARA – The second John Lynch stepped into the Levi’s Stadium auditorium to talk about the NFL Draft, it was easy to flash back to past years’ photo ops on that stage with the 49ers’ top picks.
The initial one came in 2017, when Lynch was a first-time general manager and posed with coach Kyle Shanahan and first-round busts Solomon Thomas and Reuben Foster. The best scene came two years later, with No. 2 overall pick Nick Bosa.
Of all the hits and misses this 49ers regime has on its ledger, the upcoming ninth draft under Lynch and Shanahan is paramount to this franchise’s direction, both in the short and long term.
“I like that there’s a lot of quality starters throughout this draft,” Lynch said Tuesday. “It runs deep into Day Two and even into Day Three.”
The 49ers’ first pick is at No. 11 overall in Thursday’s opening round, which begins at 5 p.m. PT, with the NFL Draft making its debut in fabled Green Bay.
“Thursday is going to be a big day, the start of the draft and bringing that new crop of guys to join our team and start building this thing up,” linebacker Fred Warner said.
Four picks in the top 100 should bolster the 49ers’ cause, including Friday’s selections in the second and third rounds (Nos. 43, 75 and 100). Saturday’s final three rounds are often a goldmine under this regime, and this year offers two picks in Round 4 (Nos. 113, 138), two in Round 5 (Nos. 147, 160), and three in Round 7 (Nos. 227, 249, 252).
This offseason’s roster purge prompts the need for vast reinforcements, and because no outright starter arrived amid free agency’s bargain shopping, the 49ers must use their 11 picks in this week’s draft to regenerate their roster into a contender.
“We talk about how much we lost this offseason and guys going to other places,” Warner added, “but we do need some youth, guys who are hungry for that respect and trying to earn it, getting that edge back to us, the competitive aspect of guys competing for different spots. It’s much needed for our team in general and I’m excited about it.”
While the defense could replace as many as seven starters, the 49ers’ offense wasn’t hit as hard, all due respect to the trades of wide receiver Deebo Samuel (Washington) and running back Jordan Mason (Minnesota), as well as the free agency exits of left guard Aaron Banks (Green Bay) and backup tackle Jaylon Moore (Kansas City).
“It’s always tough watching guys you love and respect go off to other teams but that is the business of this league,” running back Christian McCaffrey said. “Everybody in our locker room is pretty familiar with it. So, onward, continue to grow as a team, grow as a unit, bring in the new guys and have them get up to speed as quick as possible.”
Trades are always possible this time of year, too, in the form of draft-pick swaps or the movement of veteran players, such as the 2020 acquisition of left tackle Trent Williams.
The 49ers’ most gaping holes are on their once-daunting defensive line. Three of last season’s Week 1 starters got released: defensive end Leonard Floyd and defensive starters Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins. Although Yetur Gross-Matos is penciled in as their latest defensive end opposite Nick Bosa, edge rushers are always a coveted commodity, although the interior may be more of a dire need right now.
When it comes to analyzing such defensive linemen, the 49ers are big on get-off speed, but there’s more to it than that in reviving that brand.
“You hear us talk a lot about setting edges. You’ve got to have the ability to set a firm edge,” Lynch said. “When we’re playing that wide-nine technique, setting an edge, there’s space. And so, you have to be able to take that space away that is initially there. And so that’s something we covet.
“And then obviously, you take a look at, can they put pressure?” Lynch added. “Much like a wide receiver who can put pressure on a corner by coming at them, first and foremost, and threatening with power, and or speed.”
Lurking behind that defensive line is Warner, a four-time All-Pro entering his eighth season.
“Playing alongside younger guys, it keeps me young,” Warner said. “I feel like I’m still young, but of course you get to eight-plus (seasons) and they start calling you ‘Old head,’ ‘Unc,’ and other crazy things.”
What he’s still waiting to be called most: Super Bowl champion.
“Even though we’ve been close to hitting the top of the mountain, we’ve never actually surpassed it, right?” said Warner, who was on the 2019 and 2023 NFC Championship teams. “So teams have never looked at us as Super Bowl champs because we haven’t attained that yet. That carries heavily on myself as it does other guys who’ve been here.”
And it’s a burden that will be passed onto this incoming draft class, and the next, until the 49ers eventually end a Lombardi Trophy drought that now spans three decades.