49ers’ Rebuild Continues With 2017 NFL Draft

This past offseason the San Francisco 49ers went full rebuild mode with the firing of both head coach Chip Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke and the subsequent hirings of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. The pair’s first major task, free agency, has been viewed as a constructive one. This week’s NFL Draft is the next task, and it’s the most important one to date for this new regime.

When San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York handed six-year deals to both Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, he was giving full control of the keys for the franchise’s rebuild.

The first phase of that rebuild began with the free-agency period, which is being viewed in a positive light. The new regime was aggressive from the onset of free agency, signing 11 players in the first two days.

In total, 24 players were signed or traded for by the new front office. It is a welcome change from the previous staff, which saw hyper inactivity during free agency.

San Francisco 49ers

Quite some time has passed since the 49ers organization was this aggressive in an offseason.

And while the signings made aren’t anything to get too excited about, it remains Lynch and Shanahan filled needed holes on the roster with competent solutions — all in an insanely viable economic fashion.

Even after the splurge in free agency, San Francisco still owns the most cap space in the NFL with $72.2 million, per Spotrac.

Really, there’s been little negative chatter about the 49ers since the new general manager and head coach assumed their duties. The “leak” culture that plagued the previous regime has been effectively eliminated, players are talking about their desire to play under Shanahan and San Francisco still owns their vast draft capital and cap space after a busy offseason.

All of this had led to mostly favorable remarks regarding the breakdown of the 49ers’ current rebuild. You could say Lynch and Shanahan are batting 1-for-1 right now. Their next plate appearance is their biggest one; the NFL Draft. The current sentiments going around about San Francisco will be put to test.

Their first task, they passed. How will they fare in the next phase of the rebuild? Preparation for the draft has been underway for some time now and the reports are that the 49ers have implemented a grading system similar to one AFC East team (h/t KNBR’s Kevin Jones):

As Jones notes, the system that is being used is based on the one Adam Peters (San Francisco vice president of player personnel) implemented, which was based on former head coach Josh McDaniels’ system that came from his time at New England.

This matters why? First, it was Lynch purging the last traces of Baalke from the organization, which was needed both strategically (Baalke’s draft record was unimpressive) and emotionally (Baalke became poisonous toward the end of his career with the 49ers). Second, it doesn’t hurt to have a New England-inspired influence in your scouting department.

All this preparation is leading them to the most critical stage of the rebuild — a regime’s first draft class. It really cannot be overstressed the importance of a new organization’s first attempt at the NFL Draft. The Niner Wire’s Rob Lowder sums it perfectly:

Exactly. This batch of rookies will be the ones Lynch and Shanahan use in their free agent pitch meetings. The success of these rookies will be the showcase to the league that the new 49ers regime is legitimate. I mean, look at the success of what one draft can do.

Take the Oakland Raiders as a case study. The doormat of the NFL for a decade, the Raiders were in a never ending cycle of awfulness until 2014. In that year’s draft, linebacker Khalil Mack and quarterback were selected by Oakland in Rounds 1 and 2, respectively. Yes, it’s only one case — but it shows that one draft can alter the course of your franchise drastically.

This draft is of the utmost importance for the vitality of the 49ers rebuild.

Next: San Francisco 49ers: Finding Parallels, Differences Between Now and the 2005 Rebuild Project

Lynch and Shanahan have already rejuvenated the roster partially with their handling of free agency. Their next quest is to complete the rejuvenation with the NFL Draft — will they be able to do it?

We’ll find out starting Thursday.