The Devil's Advocate
Call me Dad
After reading this, I don't have any problems with what they did. It looks like this was the plan from jump, and they got the top 2 guys they wanted in the first place.
49ers make 2 deals, select DT Kinlaw, WR Aiyuk
On Monday, Niners general manager John Lynch said the team had targeted six players it would stay at No. 13 for and take if any of them were available, but when the Bucs called to move up with San Francisco on the clock, the Niners suspected they could move down just one spot and still land Kinlaw.
"He was actually the first guy on our list that we would have taken at 13," Lynch said. "We felt comfortable getting back one spot, gaining a fourth-round pick, and had a good idea that Javon would still be there. He's a guy that we had zeroed in on for a while.
"You go back to when we first built this thing and Kyle [Shanahan] and I came together, one of the things that we really believed in is that's an equalizer. In a football league where everything is set up for offenses to be successful, one of the ways you can equalize the equation is to get after and knock down the passer. We built a pretty good unit there and we wanted to keep that strong. We felt he was a great fit for that."
On Monday, Lynch said he was open to trading down from both picks in order to recoup some of those lost choices. But when Aiyuk remained on the board as the picks slowly crept toward San Francisco at No. 31, the Niners felt it was worth not having those midround picks in order to come away with two players they believe can be immediate difference-makers.
"To risk that to go up and get a starting receiver with a starting 3-technique that we already got, it's something we didn't think was gonna be there and we're just real happy it was," Shanahan said. "And we get what we don't have this year. That's something John and I are going to work to never be in again, but if those decisions that put us here helped us last year, we'll do that every time and that's what we're happy about."
Kinlaw becomes the fifth defensive lineman in the past six years to be San Francisco's first pick in the draft, joining Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner, Solomon Thomas and Nick Bosa.
Shanahan and Lynch have consistently discussed the importance of having a strong defensive line since taking over in 2017 and have no qualms with continuing to invest in that group.
"I'm always down to go defensive lineman if the right guy is there," Shanahan said. "I was surprised Kinlaw was there. Ask my high school friends when we did Madden and would draft our own guys. This was back in '97 or whatever. My pick was always Strahan and theirs was always like Randy Moss. I always wanted to do D-line and I think that's what we've done here and I think John feels the same way."
In a deep wide receiver draft that saw many of them connected to the Niners in recent weeks, Aiyuk's name had rarely come up among draft pundits. But Shanahan called Aiyuk "my favorite receiver I evaluated" with Oklahoma's CeeDee Lamb as the runner-up.
That evaluation made Aiyuk another of the six players the Niners had on their list at the 13th pick, and when he fell closer to No. 31, Shanahan and Lynch pounced.
"We added two guys here today that without a doubt are starting-caliber players who will make our team better, who will be contributors on their first contracts for a long time, and that will really help us in free agency next year, really help us in the draft next year and it will really help the 2021 49ers," Shanahan said.
49ers make 2 deals, select DT Kinlaw, WR Aiyuk
On Monday, Niners general manager John Lynch said the team had targeted six players it would stay at No. 13 for and take if any of them were available, but when the Bucs called to move up with San Francisco on the clock, the Niners suspected they could move down just one spot and still land Kinlaw.
"He was actually the first guy on our list that we would have taken at 13," Lynch said. "We felt comfortable getting back one spot, gaining a fourth-round pick, and had a good idea that Javon would still be there. He's a guy that we had zeroed in on for a while.
"You go back to when we first built this thing and Kyle [Shanahan] and I came together, one of the things that we really believed in is that's an equalizer. In a football league where everything is set up for offenses to be successful, one of the ways you can equalize the equation is to get after and knock down the passer. We built a pretty good unit there and we wanted to keep that strong. We felt he was a great fit for that."
On Monday, Lynch said he was open to trading down from both picks in order to recoup some of those lost choices. But when Aiyuk remained on the board as the picks slowly crept toward San Francisco at No. 31, the Niners felt it was worth not having those midround picks in order to come away with two players they believe can be immediate difference-makers.
"To risk that to go up and get a starting receiver with a starting 3-technique that we already got, it's something we didn't think was gonna be there and we're just real happy it was," Shanahan said. "And we get what we don't have this year. That's something John and I are going to work to never be in again, but if those decisions that put us here helped us last year, we'll do that every time and that's what we're happy about."
Kinlaw becomes the fifth defensive lineman in the past six years to be San Francisco's first pick in the draft, joining Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner, Solomon Thomas and Nick Bosa.
Shanahan and Lynch have consistently discussed the importance of having a strong defensive line since taking over in 2017 and have no qualms with continuing to invest in that group.
"I'm always down to go defensive lineman if the right guy is there," Shanahan said. "I was surprised Kinlaw was there. Ask my high school friends when we did Madden and would draft our own guys. This was back in '97 or whatever. My pick was always Strahan and theirs was always like Randy Moss. I always wanted to do D-line and I think that's what we've done here and I think John feels the same way."
In a deep wide receiver draft that saw many of them connected to the Niners in recent weeks, Aiyuk's name had rarely come up among draft pundits. But Shanahan called Aiyuk "my favorite receiver I evaluated" with Oklahoma's CeeDee Lamb as the runner-up.
That evaluation made Aiyuk another of the six players the Niners had on their list at the 13th pick, and when he fell closer to No. 31, Shanahan and Lynch pounced.
"We added two guys here today that without a doubt are starting-caliber players who will make our team better, who will be contributors on their first contracts for a long time, and that will really help us in free agency next year, really help us in the draft next year and it will really help the 2021 49ers," Shanahan said.
