Lynch shares honest assessment of ‘really special’ 2024 rookie class

Lynch shares honest assessment of ‘really special’ 2024 rookie class originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

John Lynch likes what he has seen from the 49ers rookies over the course of the 2024 NFL season.

The San Francisco general manager offered his take on how the first-year players performed.

“I’m really proud of the guys,” Lynch said Friday on KNBR. “We had a feel right away. The football character, the overall character of this group was really special. We had a lot of guys that we felt could handle [the NFL] and could be good players for us for a long time but also had the ability to come in and help us right away. Now, I would tell you that I don’t think we believed that everybody would get thrust into action this soon, and they did.”

As the franchise dealt with a constant stream of injuries throughout the season, rookies were thrust into starting roles, with Dominick Puni emerging as one of the best young offensive linemen in the NFL.

In what has become a lost season for San Francisco, which has missed the playoffs for the first time in four years, the emerging rookie class has been a bright spot.

Drafting players who can immediately make an impact is a rare skill in the NFL, and it’s crucial for any franchise to have sustained success. Just looking back at the draft classes since Lynch and Kyle Shanahan took over the franchise explains why the team has been consistently in the playoffs most years. Draft picks like Brock Purdy, Deebo Samuel, Nick Bosa, Deommodore Lenoir and Fred Warner all have matured into elite players.

Lynch and the rest of the San Francisco brass will have to turn the page on a frustrating and inconsistent year and right the ship in time for the start of the 2025 NFL season.

Armed with plenty of draft capital, the franchise is well-positioned to stockpile even more talent in the 2025 NFL Draft and become a playoff-caliber team once again.

Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast