Failure. Complete and utter failure. No other words can summarize the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft for the San Francisco 49ers.
John Lynch had nothing but opportunity in his hands. When the 49ers received a 4th round pick to move down one spot, 49ers fans had to be overjoyed watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select LT Tristan Wirfs. Warm feelings reminiscent of Lynch's first draft flowed through the 49er faithful, and then, just like that draft in 2017, John Lynch completely blew it.
In 2017, the 49ers traded down one spot to select DL Solomon Thomas. He is a terrible player. In 2020, the 49ers traded down one spot, and selected DL Javon Kinlaw to replace DT DeForest Buckner. He is not DeForest Buckner. Kinlaw is a bundle of hope. The 49ers see potential in him, and think he can possibly replace what they lost in Buckner. They are foolish. Kinlaw is seen as a boom or bust player and the 49ers cannot afford a bust player. In trying to erase the departure of Buckner they have invested in a lesser-than player whose ability to contribute immediately is highly questionable. Did I mention his knee tendinitis issue? This team can never get enough players with bad knees. Add Javon Kinlaw to that long list.
From here the 49ers used their 31st selection to trade up to select a WR. The 49ers had a clear path to the two best WRs in the entire draft before they selected the questionable project DT Javon Kinlaw. Instead they chose to attempt to replace an irreplaceable player and then treat their biggest need as a secondary priority. To make matters worse Lynch traded up to select WR Brandon Aiyuk at #26. It was obvious the 49ers had to use one of their first round picks to acquire mid-round selections, and after this pick it was obvious that dream had faded. The 49ers actually sacrificed a mid-round pick to select Aiyuk, another secondary player. Aiyuk may turn out to be great, but he appears to be a significantly lesser player than CeeDee Lamb or Jerry Jeudy.
Twice the 49ers chose lesser-than players in the first round of the 2020 draft. The 49ers chose question marks and uncertainty over the best possible talent available. The worst part of it all, going into days 2 and 3, the 49ers only have 3 selections remaining and the 2 selections they have made were baffling. Now the 49ers look to fill the rest of their holes with picks 156, 210 and 217. What a miserable failure.
