The first two seasons of the John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan era for the 49ers didn’t exactly play out ideally.
The franchise won just 10 games in those two years, and twice had first-round draft picks within the top-5.
One benefit of ending up as one of the league’s worst teams is getting the opportunity to coach at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., where college football’s best four-year players get a chance to compete in front of hundreds of NFL scouts and talent evaluators.
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SIGN UP HERE One player who was a part of the 2018 Senior Bowl ended up carving out a pretty pivotal role within Shanahan’s offense, as rookie wideout Deebo Samuel played under the 49ers’ staff at the annual event in Mobile before registering San Francisco’s longest rush at Super Bowl LIV in Miami Gardens.
"To any other GM, I don't recommend the process we went through because we were bad enough that we got to coach the Senior Bowl," Lynch told NFL Network during last week’s NFL Scouting Combine coverage (h/t 49ers Webzone). "As part of that process, we got to work with Deebo Samuel. He was a guy we had already established would be a tremendous fit, but we got an opportunity for a week to see just how strongly we felt about that.”
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Samuel was one of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s favorite targets in 2019, hauling in 57 catches for 802 yards and three touchdown receptions in his debut NFL season. San Francisco took Samuel with the No. 36 overall draft pick, just a few selections into the second round.
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Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor and Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia will be in charge of this year’s teams, likely hoping to secure someone who can make the type of impact Deebo made in his first NFL season.