While the 49ers’ front office has received deserved criticism for some of the decisions made since Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch took charge in 2017, there can be little argument it has done an impressive job of turning the franchise around.
With a Super Bowl appearance and a run to last season’s NFC Championship Game to their name in the last three seasons, the Niners have established themselves as one of the league’s premier teams.
Despite their status as an NFC heavyweight, praise for Lynch as one of the better general managers in the NFL in offseason think pieces and podcasts has not been forthcoming.
That is in part down to the structure of the front office. Shanahan has the final say on the 53-man roster and his influence on whom the 49ers go after on the offensive side of the ball has never been in question.
Assistant general manager Adam Peters also has a substantial role in talent evaluation, with the Niners keeping him in the building to this point despite interest from rival franchises.
The best front offices are a product of collaboration. Putting together any NFL roster is a group effort. But Shanahan’s influence is such that is tough to know what decisions for which Lynch is worthy of credit.
Should the Niners enjoy success in the 2022 season, however, it will be past time for Lynch and Shanahan to be recognized for running one of the top front offices in the league.
Shanahan and Lynch are staking their reputations on Trey Lance becoming a successful quarterback who can elevate the Niners’ offense to another level. Heightening the risk factor, the 49ers are entrusting the protection of a player they acquired after giving three first-round picks to the Dolphins to an entirely new interior offensive line.
Center Jake Brendel, who has started three games in his career, looks set to be flanked by second-year left guard Aaron Banks – a second-round pick last year – and rookie right guard Spencer Burford, who was a fourth-round selection.
Burford is not the only rookie set to start in 2022, as fifth-round pick Samuel Womack appears to have won the nickel corner job following his two-interception showing in the preseason opener with the Packers.
Though throwing three players who have never started an NFL game into starting roles is a gamble, Banks, Burford and Womack all looked like they belonged against the Packers, and the Niners also got strong performances from two more first-year players in edge rusher Drake Jackson and Danny Gray, who continues to produce signs he can help Lance unlock San Francisco’s deep passing game.
It is important not to read too much into one preseason showing and displays in training camp practices. Still, a continuation of these promising early efforts from this collection of young players would raise hopes of a season in which Lance is the ceiling-raiser the Niners believe him to be, and he and the 49ers excel in 2022 thanks in part to their day two and day-three rookies.
The Niners have put together one of the top rosters in the NFL, but the one outstanding item on their checklist to this point has been finding a long-term franchise quarterback with comparable talent to this new generation of star signal-callers.
San Francisco parted with all that draft capital last year because the 49ers viewed Lance as the player to tick that box.
If their evaluation is proven correct this season and they have four players from a draft class in which they did not have a first-round pick who contribute immediately as rookies in a year that also sees Banks belatedly vindicate his draft status, then it will finally be time to give Lynch, Shanahan and the rest of the staff in San Francisco’s front office their team-building dues.
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