San Francisco 49ers General Manager said this was the plan.
After the team allowed a number of high priced, big name veterans to walk this offseason the NFL draft was their only hope to keep costs down but quality play up. Lynch all but told us this was coming at the NFL scouting combine in February. Costs would be down after spending an NFL high $344 million for salaries in 2024 for a 6-11 football team.
Rookies in theory are great. You draft well, they play on the cheap, costs are down, production is even or hopefully up. The team did this with Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Fred Warner, Nick Bosa and many more. Bosa is the only first rounder out of that select group, but no matter where they are picked, rookies play below the average salary. Purdy is finishing up a deal where he played on a contract that in total was worth just a little less than what Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys makes per game. Those days are over. Purdy is moving into the swanky neighborhood in 2025. The 49ers already have Bosa, Warner, running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk at or near the top in pay at their positions. George Kittle just became the NFL highest paid tight end. The 49ers had to even up the roster financially. For balance, where there is heavy, there must be light. Cue the young 49ers, who have no choice but to play in 2025 and if the 49ers want to get back to their dominate ways, play very well.
The 2022 and 2023 49ers drafts mostly bombed. They had no first round pick in either draft because of the ill fated Trey Lance trade up in the 2021 draft. Brock Purdy saved the 2022 draft as Mr. Irrelevant. 2023 had no such luck. From the 2023 draft, Ja’Ayir Brown is a fringe starter, Jake Moody is teetering on the edge of release, Latu and Bell are gone, Luter, Beal, Willis and Graham have done little and may not be with the team in 2025 and Winters got an extended look due to injuries in 2024 and is still a major question mark. From 2022, Jackson hasn’t seen the field due to injuries, Davis-Price, Gray, Womack and Castro-Fields are gone. Burford isn’t likely in the plans after playing early in his career, Zakelj is best known for being Brock Purdy’s roommate and Davis has played little after a college knee injury. Grades are silly one day after the draft, but they get clicks, so websites put them out. Two and three years is still a little early, but it’s very safe to say the reason the 49ers had to purge so heavily this offseason is these players who were supposed to be high quality cheap labor, were…Uh..not. Plus the average first pick draft position was #74 in these two drafts. First round picks are supposed to be above average to stars, second and third rounders should build the foundation of your team. The 49ers went 0-6 in these two drafts on those picks. Of the 19 players in the 2022 and 2023 drafts, the 49ers grabbed three starters in Brown, Moody and Purdy. Only Purdy is an above average player. Eight players are no longer with the team and another seven players have contributed very little due to ineffectiveness or injuries.
The 2024 and 2025 draft classes have to be much better or the 49ers will be scouting top 10 players starting next season. With the direction of this offseason, the players from the last two drafts have no choice but to play. So what are the chances they’ll make John Lynch look smart and save the offseason and future of the franchise?
We can draw some conclusions with the 2024 class, but much is still to be determined. Only 3rd round pick guard Domick Puni is what I call an in the bank player. He looks like a Pro Bowl player who will be here a while and as importantly for the 49ers bean counters, a cheap, high quality player for the next few years. His 80.5 Pro Football Focus grade was 6th best among guards in 2024. First round pick Ricky Pearsall gets an incomplete first year grade. Between being shot and missing camp, Pearsall couldn’t really show if he could justify his early pick status. As the theme goes though, he has no choice but to play this season. Aiyuk is recovering from a knee injury and will likely be sidelined until near midseason. Jauan Jennings will be one receiver and low key free agent add DeMarcus Robinson will be the other. The 49ers ran three wide sets or 11 personnel 62% of the time in 2024. Jennings had the most snaps among 49ers wide receivers in 2024 with 689, Pearsall was second with 455. I expect his number to be close to 700 in 2025. According to Pro Football Focus, second round pick Renardo Green was the 49ers highest rated corner in 2024 with a grade of 69.2, ahead of veterans Demo Lenior and Charvarius Ward. Safety Malik Mustapha had a solid rookie campaign as an enforcer and box player, but he suffered a torn ACL in the final game of the season and will miss time in 2025. Running back Isaac Guerendo rushed for 420 yards and a 5.0 yards per carry mark, a solid contributor with upside. He’s 6’1″ and 223 pounds, running a 4.33 40. If the 2024 class can take a step up with an expected sophomore jump, this is a solid group. Pearsall, Green and Puni will play major roles as will Mustapha when he returns from injury.
The 2025 draft class was not received well by the so called draft experts, but the 49ers have no choice but to throw them in the deep water and see if they can swim. Williams is already solid versus the run but needs to give Nick Bosa a long awaited bookend to draw double team attention away. The Georgia first rounder has the tools and the size, but played the fewest snaps among 2025 edge rushers in the draft. It’s a big swing by the team, but he has to start from day one and likely improve on the job. Williams is a physical freak, but he’s only 20. Second round defensive tackle Alfred Collins is beefy at 6’6″ and 320 pounds and 4th rounder CJ West is 6’2″ 317 pounds. The 49ers lack quality and quantity in their interior line after releasing Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins this offseason. Collins should start, West could start but at the very least will be counted on for 20-30 snaps a game as a key piece in the rotation inside. With linebacker Dre Greenlaw moving on to Denver, third round pick Nick Martin will see a lot of playing time and the spot next to All-Pro Fred Warner is wide open. Greenlaw only played 34 snaps in 2024 coming off an achilles injury suffered in the Super Bowl. Dee Winters tried to fill the spot but was iffy, especially early. Martin missed a chunk of the 2024 season at Oklahoma State with an MCL injury. He’s only listed at 6’0″ 220 pounds, but ran a 4.53 40-yard dash at the combine. When Fred Warner was the 70th overall pick in the 3rd round in 2018, he ran a 4.64 to but at 6’2″ 236 pounds. Martin was picked in the same area of the draft, the 49ers hope for just some of what Warner has meant to the team. Matin is fast and active, which is what the team wants in it’s second level defenders. CB Upton Stout sounds like a tasty beverage but is an undersized inside only slot corner. He’s feisty and tough, but he has to be a starter right way. This would relegate Lenior to an outside only CB. I don’t trust Tre Brown, who the 49ers signed from Seattle in the offseason to stay healthy and solidify the third corner job. Stout will be picked on because of his size, hopefully he can be a K’Waun Williams type of player for the 49ers. WR Jordan Watkins is the 49er latest attempt at adding speed to the wide out group, he ran a 4.37 40 at the combine. He can also be used on special teams in the return game. Jordan James is 5’10” 210 pounds and ran for a 5.7 yards per carry average in three years at Oregon. He understands zone concepts and could be the number two back with Guerendo still learning. Sigle ran a 4.37 40 at 5’11 200 at the combine and could figure in with the Mustapha injury at safety. He’s strictly a special teamer and emergency box safety at this point. Rourke had a solid season at Indiana and is a developmental type QB, Colby comes from a long line of solid Iowa offensive lineman and Bergen is a small school player with eight college punt return touchdowns. He’s only 5’9″ 184 pounds, so he’s not likely to yet be a factor on the WR depth chart due to size limitations.
Bottom line is the 49ers need Pearsall, Green and Puni to start and play well in major roles from the 2024 class. It may be too much to ask, but Williams has to grow up fast and play a solid edge with 7-8 sacks opposite Bosa as a rookie on the defensive line and Collins and West need to make a major contributions with snaps and production to shore up a poor run defense. Martin at least is a role player linebacker and special teamer and it would be huge if he could start and make up for the loss of Greenlaw in a major way. Watkins could surprise and get slot snaps and James may be insurance for McCaffrey if he needs more rest after an injury filled 2024. That’s three players plus when Mustapha gets back from he 2024 group. The 2025 class needs Williams and Collins to start right away and they need major help quickly from Martin, Stout and West. Watkins and James could surprise in reserve roles. In all, the 49ers need big time contributions from about 10 players in the last two drafts. 2024 is solid, 2025 has to be even better and right away if not sooner. That’s the plan.