San Francisco 49ers: Grading the 2017 draft class

The San Francisco 49ers were widely praised for their 2017 draft, but how did their rookies pan out? Here grade the performances of the Niners’ rookies.

The San Francisco 49ers’ draft classes prior to the arrival of John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan yielded little in the way of successful returns. Former general manager Trent Baalke’s lack of success with the majority of his picks was, after the exit of Jim Harbaugh, the chief reason for the 49ers’ decline following their run to three successive NFC Championship games from the 2011 to 2013 seasons.

With the 2017 offseason, though, change was on the way in the front office and on the sidelines. And with that change in personnel, so came a change in the team-building process in numerous capacities.

Stepping into their new roles, rookie general manager Lynch and head coach Shanahan, were open about their recruitment in free agency and the draft being a collaborative efforts. And they were widely praised for their first draft, as Lynch worked the board and secured two top-tier defensive prospects on day one.

But how does that class look now after a hugely promising 6-10 season? Here we provide our verdict with some rookie grades.