Barnwell awards 49ers superlative of 2024 NFL offseason originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
The 49ers’ 2024 offseason received mixed reviews from NFL pundits.
And that includes ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, who handed out offseason superlatives to all 32 teams in your last column.
Barnwell’s superlative for San Francisco was underwhelming, to say the least.
The team most likely to sign an exciting playmaker in the middle rounds who may never see the field.
Barnwell is referring to fourth-round picks Isaac Guerendo and Jacob Cowing, a running back and wide receiver who are highly regarded by draft evaluators but will be buried on the 49ers’ star-studded offensive depth chart.
“Hey, even Kyle Shanahan knows this to be true,” Barnwell wrote. “During their tenure with the 49ers, Shanahan and GM John Lynch built a fearsome group of playmakers. They drafted Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel with top-40 selections, got George Kittle with a fifth-round pick and traded a handful of selections to acquire Christian McCaffrey.
“You can also build an entire offense or two around the players Shanahan and Lynch pursued at the playmaker positions. They used a second-round pick on Dante Pettis and third-round picks on wide receivers Jalen Hurd and Danny Gray. was traded before the end of his rookie contract. Hurd never played an NFL snap. Gray had a catch as a rookie, was placed on injured reserve last season, and was probably never out on the depth chart behind 2024. Rounder Ricky Pearsall.”
Barnwell goes on to mention the money and draft capital the 49ers have spent on running backs over the years, including free agent Jerick McKinnon, 2017 fourth-rounder Joe Williams, 2021 third-rounder Trey Sermon and Ty Davis-Price of third round of 2022.
While Barnwell acknowledges that the 49ers have found plenty of playmakers over the years, their draft failures are glaring and could have had a ripple effect on the team’s current roster.
“While it might not seem like a big deal if Lynch and Shanahan make a pick or two when you consider how successful the 49ers have been elsewhere, those failures add up to something more significant,” Barnwell adds. “Even though they have recovered some compensatory picks in recent years after losing several executives to jobs elsewhere, they are still losing years of recruiting capital as a product of their failed trade for Trey Lance in 2021.
“When teams make picks or trade them to move up, they end up in situations where they rely on veterans like Logan Ryan and Oren Burks or disappointing recruits like Spencer Burford in big moments, and mistakes or underwhelming play from those guys in big moments helped cost them. the 49ers’ Super Bowl LVIII.”
Even though rookies like Pearsall, Guerendo and Cowing could be buried on the depth chart to start the 2024 season, that could change at any time and the 49ers certainly hope to be ready if called upon.
