The 49ers are 10-22 since John Lynch became General Manager and Kyle Shanahan became head coach, and with that losing comes questions about how the team is being run. Some within the scouting department apparently think things aren’t being run well.
The lengthy story about the 49ers from Tyler Dunne of BleacherReport.com suggests that the scouting staff feels “marginalized” by the decisions being made, with Shanahan’s influence on personnel seeming to ruffle some feathers.
One former staffer told Dunne that “to see your work not valued as highly is demoralizing” and added, “Voices are being heard, but they’re not the right voices.”
As an example, the 49ers took Solomon Thomas with the third overall pick in the 2017 draft, and that hasn’t worked out particularly well. Among the next 10 players off the board were two franchise quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, and two Pro Bowl defensive backs, Jamal Adams and Marshon Lattimore. According to the report, multiple 49ers scouts who watched Thomas in person came away with it thinking he should not have been a Top 5 pick.
The 49ers’ scouts also disliked running back Joe Williams so much that he wasn’t even on the 49ers’ draft board. But Shanahan insisted on drafting him in the fourth round. He never played a game and is now out of the league.
Ultimately, what matters is the record. The 49ers have been 6-10 or worse in all four of their seasons since Jim Harbaugh left. The picture painted by this article is one of a franchise that still has a lot of work to do, with a coach and G.M. who may be running out of time to right the ship.