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49ers 2019 NFL Draft: Why San Francisco didn’t select a safety

By Peter Panacy

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 31: General Manager John Lynch of the San Francisco 49ers looks on from the sidelines during the second half of a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 31, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 31: General Manager John Lynch of the San Francisco 49ers looks on from the sidelines during the second half of a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on December 31, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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The San Francisco 49ers might be under some scrutiny for not grabbing a safety in the 2019 NFL Draft, and Niner Noise tries to explain the team’s reasoning behind not doing so.

If you go back through the archives, it wouldn’t be hard to find notions for the San Francisco 49ers taking a free safety at some point early in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Turns out, general manager John Lynch and Co. didn’t end up grabbing a safety at all in the draft. While the team did reinforce its secondary depth with Virginia cornerback Tim Harris in Round 6 and added some undrafted free-agent defensive backs, not using a mid- or late-round pick on a safety has to be viewed as one of the Niners’ primary draft failures, right?

Especially when one of those mid rounders was used on Utah punter Mitch Wishnowsky.

What was the logic behind San Francisco’s reasoning here?

To partially explain, one has to look back at the 49ers’ actions in free agency, which centered around former Seattle Seahawks All-Pro Earl Thomas, who eventually inked a lucrative deal with the Baltimore Ravens. It’s unclear just how interested and invested the Niners were in Thomas, who would have been an ideal fit in the team’s Cover 3 defense and an upgrade over either safeties, Jimmie Ward or Adrian Colbert. But with a lack of hot-pursuit reports on the rumor mill last March could suggest San Francisco wasn’t overly interested in Thomas in the first place.

Why? And why no free safety in the NFL Draft, even when there were still some quality names available in the middle rounds?

One theory is this: The 49ers are essentially “punting” on this need, hoping to get by with Ward and Colbert over the course of 2019, then reevaluating this position heading into 2020.

It’s not without precedent. Last year, leading up to the 2018 NFL Draft, a top-tier edge rusher was seen as one of the Niners’ top needs. Yet San Francisco passed on using a high draft pick on one, instead using former 49ers EDGE Cassius Marsh as a placeholder on the weak side.

Perhaps that strategy will work out. While the Niners finished last year tied for 22nd with just 37 sacks, Lynch was able to take advantage of a much deeper 2019 draft class at EDGE, grabbing Ohio State’s Nick Bosa with the No. 2 overall pick. The 2018 class wasn’t anywhere as deep in pass-rushers as 2019, so that made sense.

Maybe the 49ers are hoping to simply table this apparent need for another year.

That also helps explain why the Niners brought back Ward on a one-year deal. It’s a stopgap option, especially considering Ward has landed on injured reserve in four of his first five seasons at the pro level. Colbert, meanwhile, flashed plenty of promise his rookie 2017 season before regressing a lot last year.

San Francisco has routinely sang praises for Ward, and the front office might feel it a bit premature to give up on Colbert entirely after one bad campaign.

In a sense, 2019 will wind up being a “prove it” year for both players, essentially determining just how big a need free safety will be for the 49ers defense a year from now.

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Whether or not this approach will work is anyone’s guess, though.