- 1 day ago
Sam Lubman argues that it’s time to put John Lynch on the hot seat after years of "okay" drafts that haven't provided the star impact the 49ers need to get over the Super Bowl hump. Are the Niners wasting the talent of Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy by failing to build adequate depth? Sam and Joe Shasky break down the hits, the misses, and why the draft magic in Santa Clara might have officially run out.
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00:00We're still reacting to the 49ers draft, still hot on our minds, and coming into the aftermath of the draft
00:07here,
00:09I'm just not very comfortable with the decision-making process of the 49ers right now, the people who are calling
00:17the shots.
00:18Yeah, I'm looking at one John Lynch there. Ooh, shorted it there, Shasky trying to throw the piece of paper
00:23into the trash can.
00:25Yeah, did not come up there, and John Lynch is just not really coming up very well either right now,
00:31and as I said going into the spray, I think you've got to put John Lynch on a hot seat
00:35right now.
00:36I'm not saying you fire him right now, because I think this is not a time of year when you
00:39fire executives.
00:40You're kind of past that window. So now we're kind of looking to see what this team does this year,
00:45and there's still enough talent on this 49ers team to make a playoff run. We saw it last year.
00:50Brock Purdy is a big part of that, to which case, yes, John Lynch does get credit for that,
00:54but Joe, like, again, I look at the picks that they've made over the last few years,
00:58and I've said it a couple times already, like, you've had some guys who have been solid.
01:02You know, D Winters, who's solid, but he's gone now, traded away to Dallas.
01:07Ricky Pearsall, there's moments where you see it, but for the most part, you're underwhelmed.
01:12Malik Mustafa, I think, got to a solid start, but missed a little too many tackles for my liking.
01:17Alfred Collins, Upton Stout, solid players from last year's draft,
01:20but I don't think you're looking at them as star impact players just yet,
01:25and I think when we're talking about how do you know if you've had a good draft,
01:29I think another thing is when you draft guys, you're just like, oh, I need to see that guy out
01:34in the field.
01:34Like, I cannot wait to see what that guy looks like when he does finally suit up.
01:39Like, you know, guys, like when the Niners drafted Nick Bosa, you were excited right off the rip,
01:44like, oh, I cannot wait to see what he does on this defense here because of what I saw in
01:49college.
01:50D'Amador, Lenore, and Ambry Thomas in the 21 draft, when I first saw them,
01:54it's like, oh, 49ers have got their lockdown secondary.
01:57I cannot wait to see what those two guys do out there on this field.
02:01And I look at this draft, and yeah, there's some guys here that give me that kind of excitement.
02:07I like Romello Hite.
02:08I think he could be an interesting player on this defense.
02:11The other linebacker they got, Jaden Duggar out of Louisiana.
02:15I think he's Nick Martin 2.0, but when he does finally get on the field,
02:19I'm kind of curious to see what he can do there.
02:22Ephesians Prysock, I just like saying his name, so I hope he's out on the field a lot
02:25just so he can say Ephesians Prysock over and over and over again.
02:30But none of these players are blowing me away.
02:32I don't see impact players here.
02:35Don't we have to just let them play first?
02:37Well, yeah, we'll let these guys play, but let's focus on the last four drafts.
02:40So 22 through 25, where, again, in those drafts, Brock Purdy, that was a big one there.
02:45Dominic Pune, you got an impact player there.
02:47I'm just not seeing a whole lot of impact players during that time where, you know,
02:51Joe, I look at what the Rams have done.
02:53I see, you know, by my count, six impact players that they found in their last four drafts
02:59from Kyron Williams, Puka Nakua, Byron Young, Jared Verse.
03:02He's up there.
03:03I look what the Seahawks have done in finding impact players.
03:05Kobe Bryant, Zach Charbonnet, Byron Murphy, Nick Emanwuri, Gray Zabel.
03:09Like, they're finding multiple impact players in each one of these drafts here.
03:14And this is where I think it's more fair to grade out and criticize drafts, which is several
03:19years down the line.
03:20I think it's ridiculous to grade a draft right afterwards.
03:22You got to see how it plays out.
03:24And the fact of the matter is, Joe, John Lynch's drafts are not panning out in a way that gives
03:32you confidence that they're going to let me let me let's what's the best way to put it.
03:38They're not panning out in a way that gives you faith that this draft is going to give
03:41you the impact playmakers that you need to keep this team successful.
03:45Right now, a lot of the 49ers success is built on the back of players who were drafted prior
03:50to 2022 and as well as some good trades like the Christian McCaffrey trade.
03:55And that's going to get you, you know, to where you need to go for a while.
03:58But, Joe, why do great teams stop being great?
04:01They stop hitting on their drafts.
04:03Sure.
04:04And again, I think we can say that, John, they've had OK drafts the last few years.
04:09OK is simply not good enough for me.
04:11Like, and I think it's we kind of say like the Giants, they spend just enough to say
04:16that they don't spend to where you can't say they don't spend money.
04:19I think the Niners draft just well enough to say that, you know, they're not awful at
04:24drafting, but I don't think they draft well enough to where you could say you trust their
04:28draft pick.
04:29So when Grant Cohn and I'll play the sound in a minute, when Grant Cohn's asking like, well,
04:34here, let's just let the whole conversation play out right here.
04:37John, your draft board seems to deviate quite a bit from the consensus.
04:41Why are you confident with that, given your track record draft in the last few years?
04:45It seems like it leads to you making reaches.
04:48Well, I appreciate that you think that depends whose consensus.
04:53We got consensus in this building.
04:54That's the that's the consensus I care about.
04:57On the one hand, I think it's, you know, the consensus on the outside is the outside.
05:02They don't know everything that these teams within these draft war rooms know, because
05:05these teams, they have their own scouting departments and processes for which they evaluate
05:09talent. But at the same time, I don't think the 49ers draft, the people running the 49ers
05:16draft, the brain trust of the 49ers draft over the last four years has really done enough
05:22to where you can just trust their consensus.
05:25But what about the success in the regular season?
05:28I think a lot of that's built in the fact that you had a lot of successful drafts early
05:31on in your tenure from 2017 to 2021, where you hit on guys like George Kittle, Fred
05:36Warner, Dre Greenlaw, Brandon.
05:38He played this year, you know, he was hurt a lot.
05:41You still had a lot of Christian McCaffrey out there.
05:43That's true.
05:43You still had Juwan Jennings out there.
05:45Was out a lot for Warner was out a lot.
05:47But when he was in there, he's impactful.
05:48You still had.
05:49I mean, they had to nickel and dime a lot of things together here.
05:51And this is where I this is where I give Kyle Shanahan his props.
05:54And this is where, like, my opinion on Kyle Shanahan, as is yours, Joe,
05:59has been very up and down.
06:00We've fired him, I think, three or four times during his tenure here.
06:05But Shanahan showed last year why he is that genius.
06:10It's why, like, this is why I said Kyle Shanahan, the head coach,
06:13is always going to keep Kyle Shanahan, the general manager, employed.
06:17But with John Lynch, it's just the draft's magic has worn out the last few years.
06:23Like, to a point where if he's running these drafts, if he's making these picks,
06:27and we don't know exactly who's making what call here, but if it is him,
06:30like, you asked me the question, is this a Kyle board or a John board?
06:33If these are John boards, then I need someone else putting these boards together.
06:37Because simply put, these drafts are not getting you close enough
06:41or to that final step to where you can actually win a Super Bowl.
06:44And last I checked, Joe, the name of the game is trying to win a Super Bowl.
06:49If you're not doing that, like, what are we doing here?
06:52Well, they're knocking on the door, and that's what's been driving me completely crazy.
06:57You know whose name I haven't heard?
06:59Because you keep bringing up Lynch.
07:00Everyone brings up Shanahan.
07:02Lynch, Shanahan, Lynch, Shanahan.
07:03You know whose name I haven't heard in, like, a week?
07:06Progmarats?
07:07No.
07:08Brock Purdy.
07:11How come when other teams have franchise quarterbacks and they take a player on that
07:15side of the ball, we give them the benefit of the doubt, but we're not giving Brock Purdy
07:19any benefit of the doubt?
07:21Why is it like when the Bengals get someone, I'm just going hypothetical, Joe Burrow.
07:26Well, Joe Burrow.
07:27I mean, they'll make it work.
07:29If the Bills take someone.
07:30Keon Coleman's been a huge bust.
07:32Bob, but you know what?
07:33Josh Allen will make it work.
07:35It's Josh Allen.
07:37Why don't we do that?
07:38Well, I think because those guys are, we've seen performances for them at a higher level.
07:42Like, there's four quarterbacks in the NFL that we hold in a higher regard.
07:47Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson.
07:50Prior to them, it was Brady, Manning, and Roethlisberger, and Breeze, and Aaron Rodgers.
07:56But if Purdy's been healthy, like, let's just, when Purdy's been healthy, he's thrown up pretty
08:01good numbers.
08:01I think even the biggest Purdy hater would say, at minimum, 10th, you know, best quarterback
08:08in the league.
08:09Yeah, I think he's in that 6-10 range.
08:11I would agree.
08:12And if he plays like he did the final five games of the year, where he had 70% completion
08:16percentage, 12 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 111 QB rating, thrown for 1,200 yards over
08:23those final five games.
08:26Like, and that's, with one of those games in almost a near blizzard in Cleveland, I think
08:31we would all say, like, it doesn't really matter who they draft, they're going to be
08:34really good.
08:35Like, just overall.
08:36This team will win double-digit games if Purdy is upright and solid.
08:40See, I think Brock, I think he's one of those guys where, in fact, he's in that second tier
08:45of quarterbacks.
08:45Like, that elite tier of quarterbacks, those are guys like Mahomes, Allen, Lamar, Burrow,
08:51like, they can turn water into wine, so to speak, with how they play.
08:55Whereas Brock, I think, is still in that tier where he needs things around him to be working
08:59out.
09:00Like, without Christian McCaffrey, I don't know how effective Brock Purdy is.
09:03Like, every quarterback needs great protection up front, but I don't know, like, if he doesn't
09:09have good playmakers downfield.
09:11Like, if it's just, you know, Christian Kirk and Demarcus Robinson are your top two receivers
09:15next year, I don't know if Brock is good enough to make them look good for 17 games throughout
09:21the course of the season.
09:22He could probably, you know, for a game or two make them look good, but I think he's
09:28not on that level where, like, Patrick Mahomes can make Demarcus Robinson and Christian Kirk
09:31look like capable receivers.
09:33And I love Brock Purdy, but I think, and this is where we kind of get into the system quarterback
09:37thing, I think the reason Brock Purdy works out so well is because he does have
09:41does operate Kyle Shanahan's offense better than any other quarterback than Kyle's had
09:44before, but he does still need guys around him to kind of help make that happen, in part
09:49because I just think that's just how the Kyle Shanahan offense operates.
09:53So, I think if you have Brock, you're going to be in a great position, but I don't know
09:57if I see Brock as on that same level as, like, Allen and Mahomes and Burrow and Lamar.
10:03I just, I don't see him at that kind of an elite level at this time.
10:07Still good enough to get you there, but not on his own, if that makes sense.
10:13I mean, no one does anything on their own.
10:16That, that I agree with.
10:17Like, even Mahomes has help from guys across the board.
10:20They went into Philadelphia on the road and, and they won a game where Demarcus Robinson was
10:27your leading wide receiver.
10:30Do you know who was your second leading wide receiver in that game?
10:33Was it, uh, Jake Tonjes?
10:34No, it was McCaffrey, six for 66.
10:36You know who your third was?
10:38Who?
10:39Kyle Uschek.
10:41So, is that the game maybe when you...
10:43I just, I, the reason why I'm bringing this up is I just think that, like, you know,
10:48glossing all the fervor of the draft and where you pick someone and who you're picking and
10:51is I just think we've completely, as a fan base, overlooked, as long as Brock is healthy,
10:56as long as Brock is somewhat upright and, and ready to play, and he's a version where
11:02he can move around, they're going to be really good.
11:04And it doesn't really matter who he's throwing to.
11:06And if Pearsall's out there, he'll be throwing to Pearsall.
11:09If the new guy's out there shriveling, he'll be throwing to him.
11:12If it's Christian Kirk, he'll be throwing to him.
11:14It'll be Jake Tonjes.
11:16It'll be Mike Evans.
11:17And they'll just be a really solid, good team.
11:19But is that good enough, Joe?
11:21Like, do you want this team to be really solid or good?
11:23Or do you want them to be that next level?
11:24No, of course I want them to win a Super Bowl, but I just think we're acting like the sky
11:27is falling and they got to stop, start back down at zero.
11:30And I just don't think that.
11:32No, I'm not saying that.
11:32I didn't say you did.
11:33Yeah, no, but like, again, as I put John Lynch on the hot seat here, the reason is,
11:37is yes, he has them as a really solid, good team, but I need to see this team get
11:41to that next level if they're going to win a Super Bowl.
11:43Right now, they're a stepping stone team, as in like, they're the team that the championship
11:47teams step on on the way to winning their championships.
11:49And that's not a fun place to be right now.
11:52I don't know.
11:53I'm not sure I agree with that.
11:55But like, for example, you brought up Lamar and Burrow and all them.
11:59I'm like, could you make the argument Brock's win against Philly is as impressive as any
12:05Lamar playoff win?
12:07Like, I'm just asking out loud.
12:08Is that even a fair sentence to ask?
12:10No, I think the overall performance, yeah, I think that's fair.
12:13Like, and that was like a B minus C plus game from Brock.
12:17He threw two picks.
12:18Like, it wasn't even like lights out Brock, but he was lights out when he needed to be.
12:23Like, that was the vintage, what a franchise quarterback looks like.
12:26And I just, I don't know, man.
12:28Like, whether it's the first draft pick, whether it's the running back, any of those,
12:32like, I think the team as a whole is going to be just fine as long as Brock Purdy is
12:37healthy
12:37and upright.
12:38I agree with that, but that's where I want to see this team make the next level though,
12:41Joe.
12:41Like, you have the quarterback who can get you there.
12:43You've shown that if you put the right pieces around him, he can take this team all the way
12:48to the Super Bowl.
12:48And again, they were, you know, you change, there's five or six plays in that Super Bowl.
12:53You change one of them, the 49ers are champions.
12:55Like, we know Brock is good enough to get you to that level, but you still got to keep this
13:01team stocked up around him here.
13:03And what I don't want to see happen is when you have a quarterback like Brock, and maybe
13:08this is the year he elevates his game to being that if you have Brock, you have a chance,
13:13you know, on the field there.
13:14Maybe this year he does that.
13:15And if that's the case, John Lynch's job will be safe.
13:18Like, he will get the credit for that, whether he was lucky for it or not.
13:22But if this team does fall short there and you have a quarterback who's good enough to
13:26get you there, but the team around him isn't good enough to, you know, take advantage of
13:31that, that's where I start to look at John Lynch like, you know what, dude, if you're
13:34not going to be making the picks that will be getting this team to the next level, maybe
13:38it's time to bring in someone else who will make those picks to get this team to the next
13:41level.
13:41And honestly, I don't know what the relationship is between Lynch and Kyle in terms of how
13:47they come and put these boards together.
13:49If Lynch does go, I'm going to go so far as to, because Kyle's never going to give up
13:54GM control.
13:55But I would let Kyle almost pick who would come in to replace John Lynch.
13:59Isn't that the similar setup that they have now?
14:02Aren't you like, if you're out on Lynch, aren't you kind of out on Kyle?
14:06See, this is how I try to thread the needle here, Joe, because I don't know if I want Kyle
14:11Shanahan, the GM to still be making these decisions.
14:14But I also know, like, he's not going to give up that power.
14:18So how do I kind of save Kyle from himself on this one?
14:21If you could get someone else who can still work in concert with Kyle and give him the
14:27players that he needs, but just better than what Lynch is providing right now.
14:32I don't know what the answer that looks like, but that's kind of where I'm going right now
14:35in terms of like, Lynch is just not the guy.
14:40So who can Kyle bring in that maybe is a guy more so than what Lynch is?
14:46Yeah, but I just think if we're out on Lynch, then you're telling me one of two things.
14:51Either you're completely out on Kyle being the head of the organization, which might mean
14:55that you're out on Kyle.
14:56It's a tough two-way.
14:57Do you think it's one of the...
14:59Yeah, I mean, you take them both.
15:01I hate to think that that is the situation.
15:04Maybe it is.
15:07Look, in an ideal situation...
15:09Do we even know if this partnership is still working as effectively as we thought it was?
15:14They just won 12 games and won a playoff game against the reigning Super Bowl champs.
15:19Look, I would like them to bring in a specific personnel guy.
15:23Like, if you put John Schneider with Kyle Shanahan, if you did, you know, they might hate each
15:28other's guts because Kyle wants influence.
15:31I think everyone would agree that that would be the best for Kyle as the coach.
15:34I agree with that.
15:35Like, Kyle would probably win 12 to 14 games every single year and multiple playoff games
15:40every single year.
15:40He's kind of already doing that anyway.
15:43But...
15:43That's what he would say to me.
15:45But I also think you can win 12 to 14 games a year and then still get over the hump
15:48in
15:49the postseason.
15:50Like, let me ask you this right now.
15:52It's true.
15:52Right now, what do you think is going to be better, the next four years of 49ers football or
15:55the prior four years of 49ers football?
15:57Keep in mind, Fred Warner's about to age out.
15:58George Hill's about to age out.
16:00Christian McCaffrey's about to age out.
16:02One bad year.
16:03I don't know.
16:04That's...
16:05Joe, again, all your best players on this team...
16:07I'd probably say the prior four years were better than the next, but we got to let it
16:11play out.
16:12Well, yeah, but I think you would feel better about the next four years if some of these
16:16picks had actually hit.
16:17Like, what if Daryl Luter Jr. actually became a shutdown corner?
16:19What if Ronnie Bell actually became a really good receiver?
16:22You know, what if Isaac Garendo wasn't an injury risk?
16:25What if Ronaldo Green was a better cornerback?
16:28What if Ricky Pearsall was able to stay on the field every single game instead of only
16:31some of the games?
16:32Like, these are the margins that the 49ers are failing to fill right now, and that's
16:37why, like, yeah, they won 12 games, but that was a big part of just Kyle Shanahan being
16:41Kyle Shanahan that made that 12 games happen, let those 12 wins happen.
16:45And I don't know if that was a product of just the roster being good as much as it was
16:50just Kyle Shanahan making the right moves on Sundays, the occasional Mondays, Thursdays,
16:55and Saturdays, in real time in these games, week to week.
17:01Basically, nickel and diming, again, these wins together.
17:03Like, Kyle put on an incredible coaching performance last year.
17:06Are we really going to expect him to just basically be going all out coaching like that every year
17:12with rosters that are not as good as their win-loss totals might suggest they are?
17:17What is the question on that one?
17:19Are we really going to expect Kyle Shanahan to basically put in incredible coaching jobs
17:24like last year?
17:25Where he's been, like, he had this team play, he got to...
17:28Was 2023 a great coaching year for him?
17:30When they got to the Super Bowl?
17:31Oh, yeah.
17:31Okay, what about 2022?
17:332022, I thought that was a very good coaching year, but again, he had a very, very good roster
17:37last year.
17:382021, yeah.
17:40Did you mean with the hurt shoulder?
17:41Yeah, we put Debo in the backfield.
17:43But I think last year was probably his best coaching job.
17:47Because in 21, 22, and 23, he had really, really good teams that made making these coaching
17:53decisions think a lot easier.
17:55I think he had to go deep, deep, deep into his bag all season last year, much deeper than
18:02he's had to in the past.
18:03And I just don't know if that's something we can kind of count on for him to go that
18:07deep every single year.
18:09That I agree with.
18:10They need...
18:11You got to have the Jimmys and the Joes.
18:12It can't just be X's and O's.
18:14That I agree with.
18:15Yeah.
18:15When you look at their offseason right now, we've had the free agency period, okay?
18:20We've had now a draft.
18:22Now, there's still a little bit of wiggle room regarding the offseason.
18:27You're going to have an opportunity to sign guys like Juwan Jannings is out there, and
18:31Bosa's out there, and Njoku's out there, and Debo.
18:34And that would be, I guess, you know, that would be the candle on the birthday cake.
18:38Not even the icing.
18:38That would be like the last couple of things.
18:41How would you grade their offseason thus far?
18:45Thus far...
18:45Now that we've seen the entire draft, and we've seen their entire free agency.
18:49So, in free agency, they brought in Christian Kirk.
18:53They brought in Mike Evans.
18:55They got Odigizua.
18:56They traded for Odigizua.
19:01The Dallas DT.
19:03Okay.
19:03They still haven't solved their tight end issue.
19:06One sec.
19:06One sec.
19:06I'm going to go through it.
19:07They've re-signed Trent Williams.
19:11That was an order of business, right?
19:13Mm-hmm.
19:13Okay.
19:14We still have the IU thing going on.
19:16We don't know what's going on there.
19:19What else did they do?
19:20Sammy, they brought back Green Law.
19:21Yep.
19:23Okay.
19:25They added...
19:26Let's see.
19:26They got Nate Hobbs in there as well.
19:28They added multiple linemen and multiple secondary players.
19:31Mm-hmm.
19:32Okay.
19:32They added a couple backup linemen.
19:34Brett Toth, Reddy and Lowe.
19:38Let's see what else.
19:38Yeah, they...
19:39All right.
19:40Yeah.
19:40So, how would you grade that offseason?
19:42If I were to go back to the end of that Seattle game, and you were talking about,
19:46hey, this would be the ideal offseason, have they hit it?
19:52I don't think...
19:54I'm not giving them an A, because I don't think they've yet to satisfactorily, in a satisfactory
20:00manner, solve the edge rusher.
20:02They didn't address tight end.
20:04Well, they think they did in the draft.
20:05They think they got Romella height.
20:07I mean, that...
20:07Well, we'll see on that one.
20:09And I...
20:09Okay.
20:09We'll see on that.
20:10B-ish, B-minus, maybe offseason.
20:13Yeah, what's the letter grade for the 49er offseason?
20:16888-957-9570.
20:189-5-7-0.
20:19Did they do enough for you to feel better about this team now than you did at the end
20:24of last year?
20:24They've also lost some players.
20:26Yeah.
20:26So, they lost Jennings.
20:28Is Mike Evans better than Juwan Jennings right now?
20:31The problem with Mike Evans, Joe, and I love the signing in the moment, and I still like
20:35the signing, because I think Mike Evans is going to be the best receiver that Brock Purdy
20:38has played with.
20:40But this is something we haven't really acknowledged.
20:42I think we don't want to acknowledge it, because if we speak it into existence, we're all
20:45going to feel bad.
20:46He's got to stay on the field.
20:47Mike Evans had the most unhealthy season of his career last year, and now he's coming
20:52to a team that there are so many memes and AI videos out there making fun of the 49ers'
20:56inability to keep guys healthy.
20:58Like, that seems like the worst match possible.
21:02A injury risk receiver coming to a team that just has serious injury issues.
21:06If it works out, it's going to be great.
21:08But if it doesn't, it's a massive risk that could blow up in this front office's face here.
21:13But they didn't just add Mike Evans.
21:15They also added a receiver in the draft.
21:17And Deshaun Stripling, yes.
21:18Yeah, so you have now two guys, plus Christian Kirk.
21:21I think that they've adequately improved the wide receivers for now.
21:26I think they're an upgrade.
21:28I think wide receiver position has been upgraded.
21:30Now, they did not trade away Mack Jones, and they did not figure out the IU situation.
21:36Which they will do eventually.
21:37All right?
21:38I still don't think they have a starting left guard on the team right now.
21:42We will see who that guy ends up being.
21:45So, left guard is still up in the air.
21:47But I do think in their minds, they've answered the questions there.
21:52My biggest issue is, you brought in no tight end, and you brought in no safety right now.
21:58And so, those are two huge concerns for me when I look at this team right now.
22:03Edge rusher, hey, they like Romello Hype.
22:05Let's see it.
22:06Like, let's see what we have.
22:07I do think they've improved the defensive line overall, because you'll get Bosa back.
22:12You've added Romello Hype.
22:13You traded for Odigizua.
22:15I like that.
22:16You also took another defensive lineman in the draft.
22:19I still don't love their secondary regarding their safeties.
22:23And so, I look at left guard, safety, and tight end.
22:26Those are positions that I still think can be addressed.
22:29The other one is kick returner.
22:32Who is this team's kick returner?
22:35That's going to be an interesting one to play.
22:36You lost Guy Moore.
22:36Yeah.
22:37And a year when Kyle Shanahan finally took special teams seriously, you can't regress on that.
22:41So, you're asking me, like, is this the ideal offseason?
22:43I think it's been like a C-plus offseason.
22:45Okay.
22:46I think it's been a C-plus offseason for me.
22:48And the reason being is because you didn't address tight end.
22:51You like Tonjes.
22:52I like Tonjes, too.
22:53I don't like Luke Farrell.
22:55I don't like Tonjes as your tight end one, though.
22:57Agreed.
22:58Yes.
22:58And I don't love your other safeties.
23:00I'm open-minded to Siegel.
23:02I'm open-minded to Mustafa.
23:04Don't love Jair Brown.
23:05So, that's a question.
23:06And I think they're putting a lot of eggs in the Greenlaw basket.
23:09And I'm very hesitant on that.
23:11I'm way more worried about Greenlaw's overall health than Mike Evans.
23:14And that's why I don't like the move to trade, D. Winters.
23:17Like, we saw some good from D. Winters.
23:19We saw some not-so-good from D. Winters last year.
23:21I mean, I remember when Bontai and I were doing the show a couple years ago
23:24and we had Cam Inman on.
23:25He's like, you know, we're watching practice and people are saying,
23:27is that Navarro Bowman out there?
23:29Now, I'm not saying D. Winters is going to be the second coming of Navarro Bowman.
23:32The fact that that was a conversation, it got me excited for what D. Winters
23:35was going to bring to the table.
23:36And the fact that they moved off of him, probably the one good piece of that 2023 draft,
23:41I didn't really like that because it is a show that you are putting
23:43all of your eggs in the Dre Greenlaw basket.
23:46And then that goes again into why I just, I'm not comfortable with John Lynch right now
23:51is that you're basically admitting that that whole draft was complete wash now,
23:55that 2023 draft, by moving off the last good piece there.
23:59And you're going back to your prior drafts.
24:02When Dre Greenlaw was drafted, it was 2018.
24:04It's your success is still too built off of the first five drafts you had.
24:10I need more success built off of your most recent drafts.
24:13The teams that are successful in the NFC right now, the Eagles, the Seahawks,
24:18the Rams, the Lions, they are built off of draft picks from the last four years.
24:22The reason you're confident in this team right now, Joe,
24:25is it more because of Kyle Shanahan or more because of John Lynch?
24:28You're confident in this team because of Kyle Shanahan.
24:31But I was also confident in him running the entire organization,
24:33which I feel like he kind of does, whether it's in the shadows or at the forefront.
24:38That's a good point.
24:398-8-9-5-7-9-5-7-0 is the number.
24:42How would you grade the 49ers offense, sorry, offseason so far in terms of how they've been filling their holes?
24:49And yeah, are you more confident in Kyle or more confident in John Lynch right now?
24:53What would have been an A offseason for people?
24:57What would have been an A offseason?
24:59I'll tell you what it would have been for me.
25:01For me, it would have been trading away Mack Jones and getting another plug-and-play player
25:05who would either fill my wide receiver, excuse me, wide receiver, safety, guard, or tight end spot.
25:14That would be it for me.
25:16That would have been, that would have jumped it all the way up.
25:19I would have loved to have seen that and then figure out what the hell is going on and know
25:25beforehand,
25:25hey, this is our offensive line from left to right.
25:28Boom, we're rolling with that.
25:29If we get anything from Kittle at the end of the year, that's gravy, but we're going to have Tonjes.
25:35We're working in a youngster.
25:36At safety, we've got four guys competing for two spots.
25:40Let's go.
25:41That would have been the A offseason for me.
25:44I think the A offseason for me would be figure your tight end spot out, preferably through the draft or
25:50through free agency.
25:51I guess that's the only two options.
25:52You have your tight end spot figured out.
25:54You have your left guard spot figured out that also acts as a succession plan for Trent Williams.
25:58I didn't think about that.
26:00You get your secondary solidified, whether it's with a good safety or with a good corner.
26:04You get your edge rusher situation satisfied.
26:07And also, I would say another A offseason would be getting someone behind Chris McCaffrey who you feel very, very
26:12comfortable with.
26:12I still don't think they've done that.
26:14Kalon Black, I think he's a good complement maybe to Chris McCaffrey.
26:19I think he'll be the thunder to McCaffrey's lightning.
26:21But I also don't think you can have a good running back in the Shanahan offense who doesn't catch passes.
26:27But I think a truly successful running back in this offense has to be able to catch passes.
26:32One of the reasons why Jordan Mason was good a couple years ago when McCaffrey was out.
26:37But the reason that he left a lot to be desired, and I think that first Cardinals game,
26:40that home Cardinals game when it was like 900 degrees out, you saw it the most.
26:45When they get into the red zone, they couldn't do those check down, those Texas route passes to Jordan Mason
26:50because he's not a pass catcher.
26:51Kalon Black is not a pass catcher.
26:53So you drafted a guy who, like, he doesn't do what you need your running backs in this system to
26:58do.
26:59And so you don't, I think, have that good backup plan behind Christian McCaffrey.
27:03So, yeah, an A offseason would have been, get some, because the fact they still seem to think
27:08that Kittle's going to come back and play football this year, you know, I'll believe it when I see it.
27:13I just, I'm not believing in it.
27:14But there's too many important question marks and too many important holes on this roster right now
27:19to where it's like you had an opportunity to fill them, and it's almost like you chose not to.
27:25And that's why I just, I get concerned about where this, the direction of where things are going right now.
27:30I think people think I'm hyper-focused on, you know, the offensive line, and I am.
27:35And I'd throw tight end in there.
27:37You know, he ran for $1.40 against the Bears.
27:40That's Christian McCaffrey.
27:42The final couple games of the year, do you want to guess what his stats look like?
27:47I'm talking about the final Seahawks game, the playoff game against the Eagles,
27:52and then the final game of the year.
27:54What do you think his numbers look like?
27:56My guess is those, I'm not going to guess the specifics, but I guess they're not the greatest-looking numbers
28:01in the world.
28:02So he ran for 11 carries, 35 yards in the playoff game.
28:06That's all right.
28:06That was against the Seahawks.
28:08Against the Eagles, in a win, 15 for 48.
28:12Mm-hmm.
28:13And then that final week 18, eight carries for 23 yards.
28:17Yeah, that's not good enough.
28:19You barely cracked 100 yards combined with 30-plus carries over the final three weeks.
28:25And so that tells me that your offensive line was getting worked, and you weren't getting a lot of early
28:31down run success.
28:33And I think it was really stymieing the rest of the offense, and you became very pass-heavy.
28:38And we know that when this team is really pass-heavy, it's not one of their most, you know, dynamic.
28:43Now, when he was running the ball really well against the Bears and their defense,
28:47not only was he running it really well, Purdy was throwing it really well.
28:51That's the most optimal part of this offense, when they're running and throwing.
28:55And so I'm looking at this offensive line, and they just view it so different from me.
29:01And this is where, philosophically, you know, Kyle knows his stuff, and he's been wildly successful.
29:08But why did they lose?
29:09Like, why did they lose those two games against the Seahawks?
29:12In part because they couldn't run the ball.
29:14Well, in part because they kind of ran out of gas as the season came to an end, too.
29:18I mean, that team was playing on fumes those last three weeks, show a couple things.
29:22One, some interesting breaking news just came out here that impacts the Giants, not directly.
29:28The Phillies have fired manager Rob Thompson, sources told The Athletic.
29:32Don Mattingly, former Dodger manager, will be the interim manager.
29:36And that's the team the Giants will be facing, like the Phillies have been, in an absolute tailspin the last
29:41couple weeks here.
29:42They have the worst record in baseball, so not surprising that they're making that move.
29:46Back to this football conversation, Joe.
29:49Again, I mentioned they kind of ran out of gas here.
29:51This is where, again, I come back to the draft, filling these holes that the Niners have just been incapable
29:55of successfully filling.
29:57Yes, they're winning 12 games.
29:59But when they're on fumes when they get into the playoffs, that's, again, why I need to see more success
30:04in the draft.
30:04When you stalk this team with more depth here to where you do have the injuries that you have, because
30:09it's football.
30:09It is going to happen when you don't have those backup players ready to go, when you don't have that
30:14depth behind your starters to where there's not a ton of drop-off.
30:17There's going to be drop-off from starters to the second string.
30:22But when that depth is so thin, like the 49ers have had in the last year, I feel like, again,
30:29as you talk about Brock Purdy being a guy you feel like you have a chance with.
30:32When we talk about Kyle Shanahan being the genius coach, when you're not hitting in the draft like the Niners
30:38need to be doing, I feel like what you're doing is you're wasting great talent in Brock Purdy.
30:44You're wasting great talent in Kyle Shanahan because you're not giving the full team that they need to have that
30:51success.
30:51And if John Lynch can't fill those holes, whether it's in concert with Kyle or not, and part of it
30:57is just that's just how this business works.
31:00Someone has to take the fall for it.
31:02It's not going to be Kyle.
31:04Lynch is going to be like that first buffer zone where he'll go first, and then Kyle will be kind
31:09of on the hot seat after that.
31:11Not saying that Kyle is on a hot seat.
31:13That's just kind of how these things go about here.
31:16That's why it just comes to the fact that why I want John Lynch in the hot seat is that
31:20I just want someone new in the room helping make decisions on personnel and draft choices because all the names
31:28in there right now, I'm just not feeling good with.
31:30Kyle's not going anywhere, so that logically the only voice that needs to change is John Lynch's.
31:35And that's why, again, we'll see how this season plays out.
31:38If they make the playoffs, maybe some of these guys in this draft rise up and are able to be
31:43starters day one.
31:43Maybe Deshaun Stripling is everything the 49ers need.
31:46Maybe Romello Haidt is the edge rusher that the 49ers have been looking for.
31:50And if that's the case, then John Lynch will prove him to be wrong.
31:53I'll take that L and we'll move forward into the future with hopefully a better Niners team, and I hope
31:57that's the case.
31:58But right now, from where I'm sitting, I just don't have that confidence in terms of what I've seen over
32:03the last four years suddenly changing and making things better over the next four years.
32:07Is the only way you'll buy in on Lynch is them just winning the title?
32:12No, I think if they have a good season, make the playoffs, and you're seeing guys, like if Deshaun Stripling,
32:19let's use an example, has a great year and is one of the three or four best rookie receivers in
32:23the year, that's a checkmark for John Lynch.
32:24Plus for you, if Alfred Collins elevates himself to where him and Odigizua are just locking down the interior of
32:31that defensive line, all right, John Lynch, you get another cookie.
32:34If Upton Stout becomes a lockdown slot corner to where you're never hearing his name called during games because he's
32:40shutting guys down, all right, John Lynch, you're locking yourself in a little bit longer.
32:45You know, maybe Renato Green bounces back from a rough second year.
32:48Like, if some of these draft picks start to just improve year to year, which I believe is possible, then
32:54that's going to be a good look for John Lynch.
32:56So, no, he's not getting fired right now.
32:58I want to make that clear.
33:00The next time that John Lynch gets fired, the earliest it will be is the end of next season.
33:05I want to explore the championship thing because I think for a lot of people, unless they win a championship,
33:10they're just abject failures.
33:11And I don't subscribe to that.
33:13No.
33:13I want to win one, and it's driving me nuts.
33:16There's no doubt it's driving me completely crazy.
33:19But I don't think that's the only litmus test for success.
33:22Like, I look back at, like, the Harbaugh era.
33:24I'm like, dude, it was so successful.
33:26They weren't failures because they couldn't win at all.
33:29It just sucks that they didn't.
33:31And ultimately, they fell short, but they weren't failures.
33:35No, we saw in real time how they fell short.
33:37It was just sometimes bounces just don't go your way.
33:40So.
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