Draft weekend is always exciting, frustrating, interesting, and surprising.

After trading back twice on Day 1, general manager John Lynch made picks on Day 2 that were three of those.


Except I would change the adjectives slightly. The De'Zhuan Stribling pick was somewhat surprising for the player, not the position. The Niners, even with their offseason activity, need a wide receiver. But after doing some research, it looks pretty good.

I was excited by the Romello Height pick. With the return of defensive ends Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams, the need for a pass rusher was not what some seemed to feel. Height will move right into the situational pass rusher role left by Bryce Huff's retirement.

Their third pick, running back Kaelon Black, was more than surprising. It was shocking. It was maddening. First, the 49ers took a running back last year—Jordan James—who looks good. Second, they have other, far more pressing needs. And third, John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan have been terrible, almost criminally bad, at drafting running backs early. Third-rounder Trey Sermon? Gone in a year. Third-rounder Tyrion Davis-Price? Gone almost immediately. Joe Williams in the fourth? Never really saw the field. It is the Bermuda Triangle of early picks.

But the explanations for all of the picks tell us more than one might think. (And I want to give a shout-out to the Bay Area reporters who grilled Lynch and Kyle Shanahan at the end of the day. The questions were pointed, and they were all the ones I wanted to ask. Kudos to such brilliance.)

Concerning Stribling, Shanahan made note of his blocking: "Yes, definitely. I think everyone knows how good of a blocker Jauan is and how big he's been for us in that way. So, we have a hole without that. So, this guy definitely could fill that." A few years ago, some were a little surprised at the Brandon Aiyuk pick. Well, BA was one of the best blocking receivers in the league.


Shanahan went on. "I really fell in love with him with the ball as a route runner, how fast he is, how big he is, how good his hands are, and how physical he played with the ball."

Shanahan has specific traits he looks for in receivers. He looks at combinations of traits. That's why he was able to get Jauan Jennings in the seventh round, as well as Aiyuk in the first.

He has a plan and executes it.

And John Lynch's explanation of the Romello Height selection is similar. First, he wants to see production: Height's "year at Texas Tech was just a spectacular season." Then he noted a particular physical aspect. The Niners "do a lot of evaluation just based on how hard, how relentless does a guy play. We feel like Romello is at the top of this draft in terms of the effort, the tenacity the relentlessness with which he plays." You call that a motor. High-motor players often exceed their draft grade. They make all of their skills even better.

He has a plan and executes it.


Then there were the answers to why they selected a running back. And one not rated highly. 49er running backs are active in the passing game. That is supposedly not one of Black's strong suits. Listen to Lynch, though: "I think he can handle himself there."

Interpretation: You didn't really see it.

"I think that's another thing, Senior Bowl, you evaluate everything. Senior Bowl, you turn on his one-on-ones, the one-on-ones really stood out," Lynch said.

Interpretation: one-on-ones are not games. You didn't really see it much in the games.

"Really hard-running kid, rocked up kid, had an opportunity to visit with him at the Senior Bowl, met with him at the Senior Bowl, and you can't help but love the kid and everything he stands for," Lynch continued.


Interpretation: We liked him personally.

Lynch does not get into many traits. He doesn't mention seeing the production in games. So he runs hard. That's different than saying he breaks a lot of tackles.

Unlike the other two picks, which were based on knowledge, evidence, traits, and expectations. That seems to include a plan for how they will be used. The Black pick looks like they were going on some sort of feel, some ill-defined sense, and what his role will be is not clear, either. It is not clear whether he is better than any of the others on the team.

We need to worry when Lynch and Shanahan go by gut. We need to be excited when they apply their knowledge and planning.

Let's hope Day 3 is all about the latter.

Written By:

Jack Stewart


Jack Stewart was educated at Alabama and Emory and was a Brittain Fellow at Georgia Tech. His poetry has been published widely in the US and several other countries. His book No Reason was published in the Poeima Poetry Series in 2020.
All articles by Jack Stewart


Follow us on: X, Facebook, Threads, Instagram

Read Original Article
Visit 49ers Webzone

More San Francisco 49ers News