The San Francisco 49ers are under the microscope after the 2026 NFL Draft. San Francisco has received mixed reviews for their draft class, with multiple national analysts criticizing the team’s approach. In fact, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. admitted that San Francisco’s draft haul had him utterly “confused” once it was all said and done.
“The 49ers traded out of Day 1, and I wrote about their Day 2 on Friday night. There were some really confusing picks in this class. I like De’Zhaun Stribling, Kaelon Black and some others, but it seemed like general manager John Lynch went off the board to get the guys he wanted, often way ahead of where they were valued,” Kiper wrote.
It is hard to argue with Kiper’s logic there.
In fact, San Francisco arguably have made the biggest mistake of any team in the draft this year.
The 49ers made a mistake by trading out of the first round
San Francisco traded out of the first round, making two moves down the board to acquire more draft picks. That is a sound strategy in theory, but it does not look smart after looking at the team’s list of rookies after the draft.
This was a big mistake by the 49ers because they lost their ability to pick in the first round for an incredibly small return.
The 49ers entered the draft with six draft picks. They ended up making a total of eight selections, and that’s including the fifth-round pick they gained in the Dee Winters trade. San Francisco traded down twice in the first round, but it only resulted in them making one additional pick in the draft. It also came at the cost of Winters, though the 49ers may have wanted him gone either way.
It is easy to wonder what San Francisco’s draft class could have looked like if they did not move around the board as much.
The 49ers could have made one trade down to get an additional pick and still selected someone like Auburn EDGE Keldric Faulk in the first round. They could still make a push for De’Zhaun Stribling (more on him in a minute) and Romello Height in the middle rounds before addressing their depth too.
Instead, San Francisco essentially punted on the idea of adding a true impact player in the draft.
That feels like a highly questionable move for a team with huge expectations entering the 2026 season.
San Francisco’s reaches on De’Zhaun Stribling, other prospects did not help
The perception of San Francisco’s draft class could be better if they made better decisions in the middle rounds. The 49ers were one of the biggest losers on Day 2 after staking much of the draft’s strength on those selections.
Stribling was a popular player during the pre-draft process, with many analysts predicting he would be drafted in the second round. But the very first pick of the second round was probably a reach.
Kiper had Stribling ranked as the 73rd overall player on his big board. Obvious that does not guarantee he would still be on the board at that pick. However, it does suggest that the 49ers could have used their original second-round pick (58th overall) to select him. Or at least traded up in the second round from that spot, preserving some value.
The 49ers also reached on running back Kaelon Black ahead of several other promising prospects.
Ultimately, there’s still a chance that San Francisco proves everyone wrong. But at this point in the offseason, it looks like the 49ers botched the draft.
The San Francisco 49ers are under the microscope after the 2026 NFL Draft. San Francisco has received mixed reviews for their draft class, with multiple national analysts criticizing the team’s approach. In fact, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. admitted that San Francisco’s draft haul had him utterly “confused” once it was all said and done.