San Francisco 49ers: Grading the 2017 NFL Draft class after one full year
By Peter Panacy
With a full year in the books, Niner Noise looks at the San Francisco 49ers’ 2017 NFL Draft class and dishes out grades for each player after their rookie campaigns.
It’s safe to say San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch had a pretty successful NFL Draft.
Lynch walked out with 10 players in the 2017 draft, almost all of which offered significant contributions in their first years with the Niners.
Not bad for a first-year GM in charge of a complete team rebuild.
With a full season now under these rookies’ belts, it’s worth going back and evaluating each player’s performance, report-card style.
To do this, we’ll have to establish some grading criteria. Cumulative grades will be based off individual player’s performance, stats, analytics and other data made available. And grades will be weighted based off when the player was drafted versus an accepted performance level generally associated with the round. The later the round, the lower the expectation level for immediate impact.
Consideration will also be given for player potential, as rookies aren’t always going to contribute at a high level in their first seasons.
But before we get into the picks, let’s look at Lynch’s undrafted free agents.