Much has been written, talked about and discussed around the San Francisco 49ers’ recent draft history. How they’ve reached on some players, or missed on running backs, or just got lucky with some of their best players.
FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd has a theory as to why that keeps happening. He said this week that head coach Kyle Shanahan has “too much power in the building with personnel,” and that his aptitude for coaching had blinded the franchise to his ability to evaluate and draft propsects.
“Kyle Shanahan has so much aptitude as a coach. He is so respected. Half the league’s use in his schemes — that I think he has way too much power in the building with personnel,” Cowherd said. “And I’m not denying that the Niners have done very well with some late-round picks. … But they have missed and reached on a lot of first-, second-, and third-round picks.”
Cowherd compared Shanahan to former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who is arguably the best coach in NFL history but was notoriously awful in the draft. On the opposite end, Cowherd said that the best and most well-constructed teams have powerful general managers — like the Seattle Seahawks with John Schneider and the Philadelphia Eagles with Howie Roseman.
Shanahan has coached the 49ers to multiple playoff and Super Bowl appearances in his time running the team, but apart from a few hits like George Kittle, Brock Purdy and Deebo Samuel, the 49ers haven’t built a long-term roster around the draft. That’s at least what Cowherd thinks.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Colin Cowherd says Kyle Shanahan has ‘way too much power’ with 49ers
Reporting by Oliver G., Niners Wire / Niners Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
