49ers Introduce Shanahan and Lynch

Today, the San Francisco 49ers introduced new head coach Kyle Shanahan and new GM John Lynch at a press conference and the 49ers rebuilding process begins. The 49ers currently posses the 2nd overall pick in the draft and have a plethora of roster spots to fill following several high profile departures via retirement and free agency following the firing of head coach Jim Harbaugh in 2014. Kyle Shanahan was the hottest coaching candidate on the market following his season in Atlanta where the Falcons lead the league in points and nearly won the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. Shanahan has his work cut out for him considering the talent isn’t nearly as robust as it was but they don’t have to rely on the draft in order to find a long term solution at quarterback. Former NFL Safety and Fox Broadcaster John Lynch was a perplexing hire considering he hasn’t held an executive or coaching position before but his insight as a player and Stanford education were enough for Niners owner Jed York.

Lynch has expressed his willingness to explore all options at quarterback be it drafting one of the highly touted rookie prospects i.e. DeShone Kizer, Mitch Turbisky, or even reach for DeShaun Watson. They also have expressed the possibility to pursue free agent Kirk Cousins, who has experience with Shanahan or perhaps even trade for New England Patriots back up Jimmy Garoppolo. What is clear is that Shanahan won’t have to decide between Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert because the Niners are ready to move on from both. Should they opt to find an outside solution at quarterback they could use their number two pick on one of the many highly touted defensive players because their defense is just in need of an influx of talent as their offense does. John Lynch has already hired Broncos Executive Adam Peters to be their vice president of player personnel after serving as head of scouting under John Elway. He also hired former Lions GM Matt Mayhew as a senior personnel executive. This at the very least shows Lynch understands that part of his success will hinge on whom he surrounds himself with and Peters will be a major asset.

For the Rams, the hiring of Shanahan puts more pressure on rookie head coach Sean McVay because Shanahan interviewed with the Rams and many were questioning the Rams decision for passing him over in favor of McVay.  The results of this decision won’t really be clear for a few years as both teams are in different stages of their years long rebuild.