OK. Before we go any further, read Peter King’s article in the MMQB. With so much esoteric behavior from the San Francisco 49ers during the Trent Baalke era, it’s very, very awkward—and refreshing to see an article about what’s going on during their draft preparations. If anyone was on the fence about the Shanahan/Lynch pairing, this article displays behavior that says they are working as a team at least for now. Winning and losing changes everything, so if they 49ers are still turning in losing records by 2020, that would be the time to see what really happens, but for now, it seems like Lynch wants to get feedback and advice from everyone around him and vice versa.
Now that you’ve read the article, this podcast will make a bit more sense. Matt Maiocco had King on his 49ers podcast and they went over a lot of what King observed from the 49ers organization. From Jed York and his kid to Shanahan’s desire of a running back not even written on their big board, this will put a lot of context into what went into the article and is a perfect companion piece. Below are the timestamps, but I do encourage you to give this a listen.
And read the article too, really read it before you listen. It’s an awesome read.
1:24 – How King pitched his article to the 49ers’ brass
3:53 – The ground rules
6:15 – Impressions of the John Lynch/Kyle Shanahan duo
17:15 – On Jed York’s role in the draft room and in the hires
19:45 – On Paraag Marathe and his role in the draft room.
24:26 –If he is surprised on the trade working out with the Seahawks [the trade to pick up Reuben Foster]
27:12—Reflections on the article
29:30—Years from now his most lasting memory of the 2017 NFL Draft weekend