49ers draft class receives Mel Kiper Jr.'s worst grade after multiple reaches originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The San Francisco 49ers had one of the more interesting draft classes of any team during the 2026 NFL Draft. While they traded out of Round 1 by moving down twice, the more interesting result was John Lynch reaching multiple times for his targets.
Their first pick, De'Zhuan Stribling, with the 33rd pick, the first of Day 2, was a true surprise. He's an intriguing prospect, but the 49ers might've jumped the gun with where he was selected.
After such a draft, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. wasn't afraid of giving the 49ers the worst grade of any team, tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings. Kiper gave the 49ers a "C" grade after the team's multiple reaches on Days 2 and 3.
"There were some really confusing picks in this class," Kiper writes. "I like De'Zhuan 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."
Since the draft's completion, there has been plenty of debate over the 49ers' draft class, with the focus on how general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan reached well ahead of consensus on a lot of players.
The 49ers took Stribling at No. 33 (73 on Kiper's big board), Romello Height at No. 70 (107), and Black at No. 90 ("way outside top 150").
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With such a big difference between draft slot and Kiper's big board, it's no wonder that he gave the 49ers such a bad grade.
Gracen Halton was a solid pick at the start of Day 3, and Ephesians Prysock wasn't a terrible pick in Round 4 either.
But the Carver Willis, Jaden Dugger, and Enrique Cruz Jr. picks down the board didn't stop this class from being one of the more questionable in the entire NFL.
With others like Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis also laying into Lynch for this class, Kiper's C grade might end up being tame in retrospect, a few years down the line.
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