The San Francisco 49ers once again found themselves staring down the barrel of an NFL Draft class that is not being extremely well received by the rest of the fanbase. Some of the picks Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch made don't seem to have been the most effective moves from a value point of view.
Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN didn't even wait until a full 24 hours had elapsed to start ripping this class apart.
Kiper gave the 49ers a C-grade for their 2026 NFL Draft, tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings for the lowest score this year. Kiper believes San Francisco didn't allocate its resources very well, as it didn't take an edge rusher until the third round and an offensive tackle until the fourth round.
While Kiper liked some of the individual selections made on Day 2, he declared the trio of De'Zhaun Stribling, Romello Height, and Kaelon Black to all be reaches. The only pick Kiper believes was not a big reach in his mind was defensive tackle Gracen Halton at the beginning of the fourth round.
Mel Kiper Jr. gives 49ers C-grade for 2026 NFL Draft
The top three picks are likely going to determine the quality of this class. There is potential with all of them, however. Stribling has great speed and playmaking after the catch, Height shows tremendous bend and explosiveness off the snap, and Black is a strong downhill runner who plays bigger than his size.
However, there are reasons why the consensus big board truthers are filleting Shanahan and Lynch for this class. Stribling's lack of physicality and limited route tree means that Lynch likely picked him at least a round too early. Height's lack of bulk makes him a far below-average run defender, and Black was often outshined on his own team by undrafted backfield mate Roman Hemby.
Day 3 appeared to be a bit better, with Halton and cornerback Ephesian Prysock shining above the rest, but the Niners' risky strategy means they will not given the benefit of the doubt if this collection of players is unable to hit the ground running during their rookie seasons.
San Francisco's inability to break through in its pursuit of a championship can be chalked up, to some degree, to its drafts not replenishing the roster with top-end talent. The national media has already decided that yet another draft has come and gone where the 49ers botched a chance to add some blue-chip talent.
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