San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch joined KNBR on Thursday morning ahead of the team’s joint practice with the Denver Broncos.
With all of the roster turnover, Lynch said the Niners are still figuring out who they are. The Niners are expecting several new starters on defense. More than likely, multiple rookies. Lynch was asked to rank the 2025 rookie class in order of who stood out the most:
I’m gonna cheat and probably say two guys who have consistently been good. Mykel Williams, because he’s a really good football player. We didn’t feel like there was a lot of margin for error on that one. It’s just how high the ceiling can be. Mykel, he’s been excellent. He’s been versatile, he can play outside on base downs and move inside on nickel packages.
And it’s just, how much better can he get? And he’s already really good. He’s been consistently good. This whole class has been good, but I’ll tell you, Upton Stout. You don’t have to have a real trained eye. You just come to practice, and you always have to be careful with comparisons, but I played with a rookie in Tampa, Ronde Barber, and they wear the same number, so it’s really easy. But the fiestiness, the competitiveness, that really drives his entire game.
Now, you have to have a skillset, and Upton certainly has that. But just the fiestiness, the competitor. Upton came the other day, and there was a toss play. And Upton’s not the biggest dude in the world, and Upton had to set an edge, which is basically saying ‘OK, this play is stopping here,’ against Spencer Burford. And he didn’t shy away one iota. He set the edge, and that’s what Upton’s all about. He can cover really well, and he’s relentless with his effort. Very reminiscent of Fred Warner-type effort. That shows up. That plays in our league all day long. So he’s been really, really good.
Lynch said he’s excited to watch the 49ers’ class develop and expects each of them to carve out a role. Stout’s development is pivotal for salary cap reasons. The 49ers’ decision to pay Deommodore Lenoir his extension means Lenoir is no longer making slot cornerback money. He’s paid to lock down the best of the best on the outside.
If Stout can be 80 percent as productive as Lenoir has been in the slot these past couple of seasons for the Niners defense, the secondary has a chance to be in the upper echelon of the league.
Lynch is also hopeful that the 2024 draft class takes the next step. He acknowledged most of those players had promising rookie seasons, but it’s a “what have you done for me lately?” league.
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