You can count Peter King of NBC Sports among those who were very impressed with the draft moves made by San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch.
"No franchise-manager of a playoff team had a better weekend than Lynch," King wrote in his Monday-morning column.
Why does King offer up such praise? With seemingly few needs heading into the draft, evident by the team's deep playoff run, the 49ers appear to have addressed the bigger ones.
Lynch even managed to address a need that arose just before the draft, what King calls a "curveball." During the week leading to the draft, the general manager expressed confidence that starting offensive tackle Joe Staley would return for his 14th NFL season. The veteran, however, informed the team before the draft that he had decided to retire, and that left Lynch and company forced to consider replacement strategies.
The 49ers landed on targeting Washington tackle Trent Williams, a seven-time Pro Bowler, and ended up landing him on Saturday, during the final day of the draft.
Other needs included finding a DeForest Buckner replacement and a receiver to complement Deebo Samuel, both of which were addressed in the first round with the selections of Javon Kinlaw and Brandon Aiyuk.
King liked Lynch's later-round work, too, mentioning the 49ers' trade of running back Matt Breida to set up the drafting of a potential swing tackle, Colton McKivitz of West Virginia.
"In sum, Lynch filled his three vital needs on one weekend with playoff-caliber players," added King. "That's what excellent GMs do."
King also noted one of his all-time favorite downfield blocks by an offensive lineman, which came from Staley. I remember it well, too. I was at the game as a fan with my wife, and still recall the reaction from the crowd at Candlestick Park.
"I'll never forget one of the great downfield blocks by an offensive lineman in NFL history, from the Niners' 36-32 win over the Saints in the 2011 playoffs," writes King.
This will always be my favorite Joe Staley highlight 🐐 | #49ers @jstaley74 pic.twitter.com/YM1qkE86Fv
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) April 25, 2020
