Niner Noise
FanSided

Biggest 49ers winners and losers from the 2019 NFL Draft

By Peter Panacy

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 28: NFL Commissoner Roger Goodell greets Aldon Smith, #7 overall pick by the San Francisco 49ers, during the 2011 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 28, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 28: NFL Commissoner Roger Goodell greets Aldon Smith, #7 overall pick by the San Francisco 49ers, during the 2011 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 28, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images) /
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GREEN BAY, WI – OCTOBER 15: Jimmie Ward #20 of the San Francisco 49ers reacts to an incomplete pass intended for Davante Adams #17 of the Green Bay Packers during the first quarter at Lambeau Field on October 15, 2018 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
GREEN BAY, WI – OCTOBER 15: Jimmie Ward #20 of the San Francisco 49ers reacts to an incomplete pass intended for Davante Adams #17 of the Green Bay Packers during the first quarter at Lambeau Field on October 15, 2018 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Winner: 49ers Free Safeties

The Niners could have used a second-, third- or fourth-round NFL Draft pick on a free safety, and the majority of analysts and pundits would have all agreed it to be a smart pickup.

After all, Pro Football Focus ranked San Francisco’s secondary dead last in 2018, and the fact the 49ers employed seven different starting safeties last year speaks to the inconsistency and problems defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was forced to face.

Yet John Lynch and Co. grabbed just one defensive back in the draft, Virginia cornerback Tim Harris with the team’s final pick.

Harris won’t challenge the two players slated to battle it out at free safety this year, Jimmie Ward and Adrian Colbert, which wouldn’t have been the case if the 49ers were able too land perennial All-Pro safety Earl Thomas in free agency or grabbed one of the numerous single-high safeties in the draft.

With no real challengers at free safety, both Ward and Colbert will be able to compete with each other instead of worrying about another player, or two, getting in the competition this summer.