Midway through the 2026 season, the San Francisco 49ers are rocking as Super Bowl favorites. You’d think that means they’re absolutely nailing every single draft pick lately, right? Well, think again. Turns out, they haven’t exactly been the NFL’s best drafters in recent years under Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. And yet, here they are again, perennial contenders, with two Super Bowls and four NFC Championship Games already notched over a nine-year run. How does a team stay at the top when their recent draft report card isn’t pristine? That’s the million-dollar question.
Built From The Ground Up
The real secret to the 49ers’ success, despite their more recent draft misses, comes from a foundational core they built years ago. Go back to Shanahan’s first draft with the franchise in 2017: they snagged George Kittle in the fifth round and D.J. Jones in the sixth. Talk about finding diamonds! Then in 2018, Fred Warner joined the squad in the third round. And the 2019 draft? That was a monster haul, bringing in Nick Bosa (first round), Deebo Samuel (second round), and Dre Greenlaw (fifth round). Think about that: Kittle, Warner, Bosa, and Samuel all ended up earning All-Pro awards, and Greenlaw has been a starter since day one, forming one of the league’s best linebacker tandems. This isn’t just good drafting, it’s hitting the jackpot. This core didn’t just set up their early success; it’s still the backbone of the team in 2026. You mix that kind of draft success with John Lynch’s quality trade moves, bringing in guys like Jimmy Garoppolo, Trent Williams, and Emmanuel Sanders, and suddenly it’s no wonder they were making NFC Championship Game appearances in 2019 and 2021. Finding that kind of talent, especially outside the first round, is just flat-out rare in this league.
Mistakes Made, But Still Moving Forward
Look, no team is perfect, and the 49ers definitely had their bumps in the road, especially in those early Shanahan-Lynch drafts. Remember Solomon Thomas and Reuben Foster, both first-rounders in 2017? And then Akhello Witherspoon, C.J. Beathard, and Joe Williams were their next three picks that year. In 2018, Dante Pettis was a second-round pick. These weren’t exactly home runs. The point is, they weren’t flawless, even in their “good” draft years. And in the more recent decade, the article explicitly states they haven’t been the best drafters. Yet, somehow, they compete with top-loaded rosters year after year. They’ve consistently made the playoffs in five of the last seven years, with four of those runs extending to the NFC Championship Game or further. It’s a combination of those initial foundational stars, aggressive trade deadline moves when needed, and some elite-level coaching that keeps them in the hunt.
With the trade deadline approaching, you know the 49ers are probably looking to make another aggressive move, eyeing up any way to improve their roster even further. It’s just a reminder of the consistent drive Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch have shown to keep their squad at the top, building a perennial contender even when the draft picks aren’t always perfect.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Niners Nation.
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