49ers biggest winners, losers from 2020 NFL Draft

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Head coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates with general manager John Lynch (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /

Winner: John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan

John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan faced three key problems heading into the NFL Draft:

Replacing DeForest Buckner
Replacing wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders
Replacing Joe Staley

This was supposed to be done with a limited amount of cap space as well as zero draft picks between Rounds 2 through 4 and only seven in total.

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How could anything wholly encompassing of these needs come to fruition?

Javon Kinlaw helped address the Buckner loss, while Aiyuk should help replacing Sanders. Yes, the two rookies are just that, rookies, and it’s premature to assume either will fill some pretty big proverbial “shoes.” But good teams address their losses in substantial ways, the Niners navigated this about as well as possible.

But the reasons why Lynch and Shanahan won the NFL Draft took place on day three, first by landing Williams for the 2020 fifth- and 2021 third-round picks, which has to be seen as a steal. In addition, moving Matt Breida and wide receiver Marquise Goodwin freed up roughly $6.8 million in cap space.

San Francisco cleared cap space by parting ways with two players no longer in the team’s long-term plans, getting draft compensation in return.

Next. 49ers 2020 NFL Draft tracker with picks, grades and analysis. dark

All the while, the Niners didn’t gamble on their two first-round picks, either, making both Shanahan and Lynch clear-cut winners from the NFL Draft.