49ers Four Questions: From The Outside

Answering questions from 49ers content creators.

Apr 25, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; Florida Gators wide receiver Ricky Pearsall is selected as the No. 31 pick of the first round by the San Francisco 49ers during the 2024 NFL Draft at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

This edition of Four Questions turns to queries from 49er content creators I partner with or watch weekly. All of them do an outstanding job and I value their insight: @grantcohn, @ToughUpFront77 (The Coach), @ashaireonna (Ashley Aireonna), and @JNay_LSS (Jessie Naylor at Last Second Sports). I am fortunate to stream shows with Ashley (Tuesday) and The Coach (Wednesdays most of the time).

Coach and Jessie asked their questions within their new Four Man Front roundtable stream with Grant and Ryan Hensley (Thursdays).

From Grant Cohn
Should the 49ers trade out of the first round every year considering their track record?

They’d never consider it, first rounders are too valuable, but when you keep whiffing like this trading down needs to be a consideration.

What they first need to do in the draft is learn from their mistakes. Drafting Ricky Pearsall knowing he was injured? How’d that work out with Javon Kinlaw? Zooming in on traits while ignoring the big picture rarely works. The Niners organizational culture of trying to wish things into being needs to end, particularly in the draft.

Second, take what the draft gives you. This was a best in a decade OL draft at tackle and center. None were taken. Look at Dominic Puni’s success, he reflects the talent that was available in this draft at offensive line.

Third, the Niners need to think like a GM in the draft, not an offensive coordinator. All of the Shanahan busts reaching for weapons is another preventable mistake they keep repeating.

Fourth, learn from the Niners rich draft history. Trading up for Jerry Rice. Drafting a Super Bowl winning secondary in one draft. This draft should have taken that focused path at offensive line, the talent was there.

Or Grant’s option of trading down, the 1986 49ers draft was the 2nd best in league history, trading down and ending up with eight starters and contributors including a Hall of Famer.

Learn from your own mistakes, learn from your own franchise. This draft was a positive step forward after two bad drafts in a row, but there’s plenty of room for improvement in process and strategy.

From Ashley Aireonna
In past seasons, the 49ers players believed they had the best roster and best coach, and bad luck kept them from winning it all. I credit their connectivity helping them get as far as they did the past four seasons. This offseason we’ve seen a detour from this togetherness and team confidence. Will they be able to overcome it without that same fellowship or will adversity destroy them?

I’ve been lucky to cover the Niners with Bill Walsh and the Lakers with Phil Jackson. Phil has the answer to this.

Jackson advocated mindfulness - being fully present in a moment without judgment. He had his teams practice mindfulness and meditate, to develop the habit of centering themselves mentally that they could use during time outs.

Jackson called for his team to build physical and mental strength, an ability to focus, remove distractions, and work together when it was needed most. I call it mental stamina, having the emotional endurance to ride a storm and use process as a foundation to work through it. Phil also asked his players to find the sacred in the everyday, to put spirit into mind and body.

I think a mindful focus on process can get the Niners to the needed team execution that leads to winning, and then winning infuses the spirit and carries them.

The Niners led the league in opening drive scores off Shanahan scripts last year. That will be my first test in the opener against the Jets to determine if the 49ers are ready mentally.

From Jessie Naylor
Which two of these five free agents at the end of this season would you re-sign?
Aaron Banks, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, Deommodore Lenoir, and Charvarius Ward.

That depends on how Dre Greenlaw looks upon his return. If he’s back to himself, I keep Greenlaw and Lenoir. If not, I keep Ward and Lenoir. By next year Malik Mustapha could be an upgrade over Hufanga. Banks will get an offer that’s too rich for the Niners to match. Puni played primarily left guard at Kansas, that’s where I expect him to play next year for the Niners.

One key with Greenlaw, this is a good draft for fast pass coverage linebackers, LSU’s Harold Perkins Jr. is a mid-1st, Georgia’s Smael Mondon Jr. has the Niner traits and is currently mocked late 3rd.

Ward has emerged as a Top 5 corner in the league and that may price him out. Ward being 28 also has to factor into the 49ers thinking, along with the development of Renardo Green.

Lenoir is the top priority, an emerging DB at 24 must be kept. He has said he will not negotiate a deal now, hoping that he emerges as a top corner in the league this season.

From The Coach
How and when will the Kyle Shanahan Era end? And will he get a ring here?

Ring no, not without a radical change in the offensive line cap and draft strategy.

I believe the end was set in motion when the team chose to reward Christian McCaffrey with a big raise, guaranteed money, and potential above market pay in future years. That triggered Trent Williams asking for the same treatment, and I expect that will be followed by George Kittle and Fred Warner.

Shanahan is doubling down on impact vets. That’s a high stakes gamble given the injury risk. A top-heavy team paying above market salary to aging vets is a huge risk. At some point injury will strike. If that happens with Williams, the team is not built to deal with his loss.

I believe this year is the Niners last best shot at returning to the Super Bowl, I don’t think it will happen. Two more years of playoffs into the divisional round, then wild cards or missing the playoffs. My best guess, I see two straight years of missing the playoffs in 2028 and 2029, with the Niners and Shanahan agreeing to part ways after the 2029 season.

Six more seasons. Could be sooner. I think two straight years of missed playoffs triggers a firing.