John Lynch arrived in San Francisco in 2017 with no front office experience and a Hall of Fame playing career. Nine years later, the question of his standing as a general manager remains genuinely complicated.The achievements are real. Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan built one of the NFC’s most consistently competitive rosters, reaching four NFC championship games and two Super Bowls. Foundational pieces like Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle were legitimate draft wins, while the acquisitions of Christian McCaffrey and the Trent Williams reflected an ability to identify and secure premium NFL talent.It hasn’t all been pleasant, though. The 2021 trade up to select Trey Lance third overall cost the 49ers three first-round picks and Lance never developed into a starter. Meanwhile, recent first-round selections have been shaky, and Shanahan and Lynch’s recent first-rounders have either been shaky or haven’t existed thanks to the Lance trade.
NBC Sports’ Patrick Daugherty took all of this into consideration when he ranked all 32 general managers. In some cases, he combined a team’s head coach with their GM during the evaluation. For the 49ers, he lumped GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan and ranked the duo No. 8 in the NFL.
How do you separate Kyle Shanahan the coach and game planner from Kyle Shanahan the personnel maverick? Because the disconnect in San Francisco is starting to appear downright Belichick-ian. Yes, Brock Purdy was the literal final pick of the draft, but that came one year after Trey Lance was the No. 3 overall pick. Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle were all last decade. Shanahan and John Lynch’s recent first-rounders have either been shaky or haven’t existed thanks to the Lance trade. Most baffling of all has been Shanahan’s continual failure to draft reliable contributors on his offensive side of the ball. He’s buying the groceries, but seems to be winging the ingredients. He has fared much better when acquiring proven NFL talent like Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams, though even those moves can no longer be described as recent. Shanny and Lynch seemed to sense the need for a draft reset, but the answer was apparently “AI” and disregarding the “consensus” board. The quickest way to make yourself look foolish in the NFL is thinking you are smarter than everyone else. For his part, Shanny really is as a play-caller. In the front office? Let’s just say he needs this offseason to be a positive turning point.
This is an apt placement for the pair. Three of the other teams listed ahead of the 49ers duo won Super Bowls, and the rest had similar playoff achievements and slightly better roster construction success.
It’s hard to say if the 49ers could be better with or without both Lynch and Shanahan, but they’ve certainly proven to have staying power in the NFC. A top-10 ranking is also nothing to scoff at, either.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: How good a GM is John Lynch? This ranking has him pretty high
Reporting by Oliver G., Niners Wire / Niners Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
