49ers received excellent production from 2019 NFL Draft class

Linebacker Dre Greenlaw

Nick Bosa had top-three pedigree written all over him. Deebo Samuel was a clear-cut Round 2 pick.

Linebacker Dre Greenlaw, however, was seen as little more than a reserve linebacker, capable of spelling starters and serving well enough on special teams.

Boy, were those scouting reports wrong.

Greenlaw was placed alongside both Bosa and Samuel on Pro Football Focus’ All-Rookie team at the end of 2019. Again, Bosa and Samuel make plenty of sense. Greenlaw had to earn it, and he certainly did. When veteran linebacker Kwon Alexander was lost to what was thought to be a season-ending pectoral injury on Oct. 31, Greenlaw stepped in and made plenty of notable plays.

The biggest play, of course, was Greenlaw’s game-saving (and division-clinching) Week 17 goal-line tackle against Seattle Seahawks tight end Jacob Hollister, which sealed the rookie linebacker’s national recognition.

But then there’s this from PFF:

"Among linebackers who were targeted 50 or more times this year, only Darius Leonard, Jayon Brown and Eric Kendricks allowed a lower passer rating than Greenlaw’s mark of 83.6."

That Week 17 tackle is surely indicative of the praise.

Heading into the 2020 NFL Draft, Lynch will now have to try replicating his efforts from a year ago, landing both impact talent as early as possible, then focusing on finding those late-round hidden gems like Greenlaw.

If the general manager can do this again, he’ll have all but erased the gaffes from 2017 and 2018.