Nearly every time the San Francisco 49ers made a pick during the 2026 NFL Draft, several of FanSided's draft experts dropped the proverbial "what?" or "reach" responses to Niner Noise.
Indeed, it's not hard to see why. And this fan reaction probably suggests a good portion of the fanbase felt the same way.
True, no one has any clue how each of the Niners' draft pickups will perform at the pro level. And it's probably not even fair to judge the entire class until a year or two later.
But, based on what we know now, it's still necessary to assign post-draft grades to the efforts put forth by general manager John Lynch and Co.
And they're not totally pretty.
49ers earn lackluster grades for 2026 NFL Draft class
San Francisco certainly reached by grabbing Ole Miss' De'Zhaun Stribling, who likely could have been had in Round 3. Granted, the 49ers traded down twice before taking their first player of the draft, which helps boost the value. But it still doesn't justify the reach.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan later explained Stribling's blocking abilities as a primary reason why he was the pick, and the Niners do need to replace Jauan Jennings.
However, with several other playmaking types available for both sides of the ball, it probably would have been better for San Francisco to go in an entirely different direction while hoping Stribling would've been available later in Round 2 where Lynch and Co. had another pick.
Texas Tech's Romello Height might've been a slight reach, too, but it's much easier to find the rationale here than with Stribling.
After finishing 2025 with a league-low 20 sacks, then watching defensive end Bryce Huff retire, the 49ers needed to infuse some life into the pass rush alongside both Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams, who'll return from ACL injuries.
Height is a pure speed rusher, and he won't be tasked with shouldering a lot of premier matchups right away, lessening the pressure on him to carry the load on obvious passing formations.
After previous third-round whiffs on running backs like Trey Sermon and Tyrion Davis-Price, the Niners can hope Indiana's Kaelon Black bucks the trend.
Unfortunately, FanSided's draft experts almost entirely pegged the rusher as a mid day-three pick, indicating San Francisco reached again to find depth behind All-Pro Christian McCaffrey.
Perhaps the plan here is to let Black compete with incumbents, Jordan James and Isaac Guerendo, to be CMC's primary backup.
Fortunately, the 49ers have had plenty of prior success identifying and developing talent from day three of the draft, and it's not hard to envision Oklahoma's Gracen Halton as the next possibility.
A good interior pass-rusher, Halton is already an NFL-ready run stopper, and the Niners sorely needed to address that after struggling against the run for much of 2025.
Nice pick and good value here.
Washington's Carver Willis is listed as a tackle, but his immediate ability to contribute at the NFL level might be inside at guard where the Niners have a gaping hole on the left side next to Trent Williams.
It might've been a better idea to grab one of the more polished interior linemen at this point, but San Francisco will appreciate Willis' fit in a zone-style offense, and it at least has a versatile backup to support several spots on the offensive line.
Boasting arguably the coolest name in this year's draft, Washington's Ephesians Prysock is already someone who could quickly rise up the depth chart in year one, especially if the 49ers are lacking confidence in third-year pro Renardo Green.
Even if they aren't finding a quality CB4 with the potential upside of developing into a starter seems to be the plan here, and it's a good one.
It's easy to see the rationale here. Jaden Duggar is a tweener who isn't quite a pure defensive end but is a bit too big to be an off-ball linebacker. Yet defensive coordinator Raheem Morris likes to add a fifth rusher in his packages, and that's where Duggar fits in.
The Niners grabbed their swing tackle of the future in Kansas' Enrique Cruz Jr., who could potentially be a starting right tackle in a few years if San Francisco decides to move on from the veteran, Colton McKivitz.
Cruz is a good fit within a zone-style system.
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