Tough to know how valid this is, but where there’s smoke….
Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller put out his Scouting Notebook on Tuesday morning. There were some interesting tidbits in there, to say the least. Some people will scoff at this because Miller has a reputation that he is not a fan of the San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch. Even if he isn’t, I highly doubt he would print the things we are about to get into.
Here is the excerpt about the 49ers:
There were handshakes, bro hugs and smiles in the draft room as the 49ers drafted Nick Bosa at No. 2 overall in the 2019 draft, but word out of San Francisco points to friction and a potential breakup of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
According to sources in the team’s scouting and coaching staff, the two aren’t in lock step as far as the vision of the offseason and the future of the franchise. The coach, Shanahan, wants to scheme and develop players while not being bothered with the player evaluation process, but more and more he finds himself involved while not trusting the decision-making of Lynch—a former media analyst after his Hall of Fame playing days but not someone with a scouting background.
It’s naive to think that every decision made by the front office will have 100% of the members in agreement with each other. If the last part is true, then this story has legs to it. Honestly, some of Lynch’s recent draft picks make sense. Solomon Thomas was never going to produce like a top 5 talent. It’s easy to say that now, but I’ve always felt like that. That’s not on Thomas that he was selected where he was.
Having that scouting background is completely different than the experiences Lynch went through as a player. So I understand the point Shanahan is making.
Here’s the last paragraph from Miller:
The 49ers signed both Lynch and Shanahan to five-year contracts when they were hired before the 2017 season. With three years left and a team that’s been stuck in neutral ever since, a power struggle could be coming with Lynch and chief deputy Adam Peters on the outs, and Shanahan looking for his own personnel man to run the draft and free agency.
For what it’s worth, it’s a six-year contract, not five.
Depending on how patient ownership is, year 3 is usually when you don’t get any more passes and you are judged by the product you put on the field. If Jimmy Garoppolo balls out, and the defense plays to their potential, none of this matters. If not, this story isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
As for the 2019 draft class, Bosa has a chance to save some jobs. With Shanahan being an offensive guy, Deebo Samuel and Jalen Hurd are going to have to be successes on the field. Hurd likely gets more time to develop, as he is still green at the receiver position.
All of this feels like the front office is feeling pressure to win. That’s no surprise. Tensions build and fingers start to point. A 9-7 playoff berth will solve plenty of problems.
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