John Lynch's 5 Worst Draft Selections
John Lynch did not receive a contract extension this offseason, unlike his counterpart, head coach Kyle Shanahan. It’s possible that inconsistent drafting in the early rounds may be the reason why the 49ers haven't extended Lynch.
However, Lynch has made a handful of good selections over the last three years. At the same time, he’s made some horrific ones. Let’s take a look at his five worst choices.
Related Reads:
Is John Lynch's Questionable Early Round Drafting the Reason He Has Yet to Receive An Extension
John Lynch's Top Five Draft Selections
Criteria: These rankings are not solely based on player production, but also include other factors such as draft slot and value.
#5) Kentavius Street - DL - North Carolina St. - Round 4 - Pick No. 128 - 2018 Draft
Analysis: Street is one of Lynch’s worst draft picks for a few different reasons:
1) Throughout the Trent Baalke era, the 49ers drafted a handful of players coming off a significant injury. Players like Marcus Lattimore and Tank Carradine had decorated college careers before knee injuries devastated their draft stock.
In addition to Lattimore and Carradine, Baalke drafted five more players coming off knee injuries: Brandon Thomas, Keith Reaser, Trey Millard, DeAndre Smelter and Will Redmond.
Seemingly year after year, Baalke would gamble on a player with an injured knee and it would never work out. When Lynch selected Street, it left a little bit of a Baalke-taste in the mouth. That’s a taste no one wants to experience more than they have to. Stay away from the knee injuries, John
2) After “medically redshirting” in 2018, a term used frequently when Baalke would draft injured players, Street made the 49ers final 53-man roster. Street played in a total of three games, and accumulated four total tackles.
Not only did Lynch draft a player coming off an ACL tear, but he also drafted a player who provided very minimal impact when healthy. Considering the tremendous depth the team possesses on the defensive line, Street’s future with the team is certainly in question. Street could easily go down as the second-least productive player ever drafted by Lynch.
Draft Do-Over: In the range Street was drafted, there aren’t really any players who standout among the rest. Josh Sweat, an edge player from Florida State, was drafted two picks after Street. Sweat, like Street, suffered a leg injury in college. Except his was much more gruesome, where he had a compound leg break.
Sweat was a highly touted college prospect, but the injury plummeted his draft stock. Last season, Sweat produced four sacks for the Eagles in a rotational pass rush role. Lynch would have been better off taking Sweat, who was in a similar situation as Street, but has always been much more coveted.
Aside from Sweat, the Raiders took Maurice Hurst 12 picks after Street. Like Sweat, Hurst was a coveted prospect, who experienced a huge collapse down draft boards due to health concerns. Hurst was diagnosed with a heart condition, which scared a lot of teams off. Hurst has 7.5 sacks with the Raiders in two seasons.
Street, Sweat, and Hurst all had injury concerns coming out of school. However, there was always much more hype surrounding Sweat and Hurst. It is one thing to draft an injured player -- it is another to miss on the injured player you select. The team would be better off with Sweat or Hurst as defensive line depth, opposed to Street.
#4) Joe Williams - RB - Utah - Round 4 - Pick No. 121 - 2017 Draft
Analysis: Kyle Shanahan was able to convince Lynch to select Williams after he was already removed from the team’s draft board. He was off the draft board for good reason, as he retired then un-retired from playing college football mid-season.
This is clearly not entirely Lynch’s fault, but he is the one who authorized the go-ahead with the selection. Williams is the only draft pick between 2017 and 2019 that projects to never play a down in the NFL. Tim Harris and Jalen Hurd are the only other two draft picks selected by Lynch to never play a regular season snap, but that is expected to change this year.
Williams flashed potential during the 2017 preseason, but landed on injured reserve and stayed there throughout the regular season, then was cut following the 2018 preseason. Williams was a terrible draft pick.
Draft Do-Over: Williams was selected in the fourth round, before Jamaal Williams (Packers) and Marlon Mack (Colts).
Through three seasons, Williams has over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and has scored 15 touchdowns. Mack on the other hand, is coming off a 1,000 yard season and has produced 2,700 yards and 22 touchdowns since 2017.
Lynch and Shanahan targeted the right position in the fourth round, they just selected the wrong player.
#3) CJ Beathard - QB - Iowa - Round 3 - Pick No. 104 - 2017 Draft
Analysis: Sure, like Williams, the selection of Williams was largely because of Shanahan. But it is Shanahan’s job to coach and Lynch’s job to manage the roster. No matter how big of an influence Shanahan has on the draft, it will always come back to Lynch.
Part of Lynch’s job is to weigh out and balance what Shanahan wants in regards to his ideal player at a given position, and what Lynch feels is best for the team. Lynch can’t give in to Shanahan and give him authority over back-to-back picks, like we saw with Beathard and Williams.
Lynch has done a tremendous job since the 2017 draft, which was a very poor war-room performance.
Back to Beathard. The 49ers drafted a quarterback whose ceiling has always been at best a spot-start, backup guy. Ideally if you’re drafting a quarterback in the third round, usually it’s a prospect that has a high ceiling who just needs more time to piece everything together.
That was never the case with Beathard. Beathard has a lifetime starting record of 1-9, and was leapfrogged by undrafted rookie Nick Mullens over the course of the 2018 season. Beathard wasn’t even active in a single game last year, which is not ideal for a third-round draft pick in his third season.
Beathard is entering his contract season, and will likely not be a part of the team beyond 2020. He may even be traded before the season starts, as I do believe he has some value. He’s tough, and not a bad guy to keep around if you’re a team that likes to keep three quarterbacks on the roster.
Draft Do-Over: Brian Hoyer was the top quarterback on the roster when the team drafted Beathard. With holes all over, the team could've gone in any direction and waited to draft a quarterback.
Shortly after Beathard was selected, the Bears drafted All-Pro safety Eddie Jackson. Given the health concerns of Ward and Tartt at the time, this pick would’ve made a lot of sense. Instead, the team waited and drafted Tarvarius Moore in the third-round the next year.
Solid offensive playmakers were also selected right after Beathard, like Tarik Cohen and Dede Westbrook.
The next quarterback selected after Beathard was Joshua Dobbs (Pick No. 135), and Dobbs was recently traded for a fifth-round pick. Another reason to believe Beathard could be traded for a late rounder.
#2) Reuben Foster - LB - Alabama - 1st Round - Pick No. 31 - 2017 Draft
Analysis: Lynch couldn’t catch a break with his first two picks as GM. One has proved to be a complete bust, the other has proved all of his draft concerns were valid.
The latter is Foster. Foster has always been an undeniable talent, and talent alone was enough to solidify himself as a first-round pick. At least, it was from the perspective of Lynch and company.
After getting in an altercation with a nurse at the NFL combine, many teams removed Foster from their draft boards. That incident was one of many that Foster would find himself involved in, between his college days and throughout his time with the 49ers.
Every team that passed on Foster due to character concerns did the right thing. To make matters even worse, the 49ers traded back into the first round to select Foster. Even after a solid rookie season, it was only a matter of time until Foster’s off-the-field issues caught up with him and the team.
Foster was released by the 49ers toward the end of the 2018 season, after being named to the Pro Football Writers Association All-Rookie Team the season prior. Lynch gambled, and it certainly did not pay off.
Draft Do-Over: The 49ers were thin at the outside corner positions, and could’ve selected Kevin King of the Green Bay Packers. This past season, King intercepted five passes and had 15 passes defensed.
Shortly after Foster, running backs Dalvin Cook and Joe Mixon were selected. However, the largest impact would have probably come from a player like King.
#1) Solomon Thomas - DL - Stanford - 1st Round - Pick No. 3 - 2017 Draft
Analysis: Where to begin. Thomas was largely regarded as a top-ten draft pick, but the closer you looked at him, the more you realized he shouldn’t have been. Thomas has always been a "tweener". Too small for the interior, not quick enough for the edge.
Not knowing what position you’re going to play a guy should immediately raise concerns. Especially if you plan on drafting that player within the first-three selections of the draft.
As a top-three pick, Thomas’ best football days are hopefully still ahead of him. He’s experienced lots of trauma throughout his young NFL career, as his sister took her own life.
Thomas has been very open about this experience, and how it has impacted him on and off the field. As time moves forward, Thomas is able to concentrate more and more on football. Hopefully this leads to him having a successful career whether it is with the 49ers or elsewhere. Regardless, it is hard not to pull for Thomas.
When having to evaluate his on-field production over the course of the last three years, Thomas’ has had an extremely minimal impact on the team. Over the course of his career, in which he’s only missed two games due to injury, Thomas has produced six sacks. That is beyond an underwhelming achievement for any top-five draft pick.
Hopefully for the 49ers, Thomas can turn it around, but it is almost unfathomable to believe he can ever live up to his draft slot.
Draft Do-Over: Patrick Mahomes. Deshaun Watson. Christian McCaffrey. Leonard Fournette. Marshon Lattimore. Marlon Humphrey. Jamal Adams. What could have been.
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