Kyle Shanahan on the 49ers 2026 draft class: We needed players for this year and next

With the internet ruining the word ‘consensus’ through incessant discussions, and how the 49ers run their drafts against it, Kyle Shanahan shed some light on his philosophy for this draft class and how it pertains to the present and future of the San Francisco 49ers.

Shanahan joined the Rich Eisen show and spoke about his expectations and fears for this year’s draft.

“ We had six picks going in there, and we felt the strength of this draft was really the second round to the end of the third. And we only had one pick there, and so I was really concerned going into it because I also felt we needed to add more than six players, not necessarily for this year, but also for next year. All the stuff’s tied together on how many free agents you lose and things like that. So I was worried if we were gonna go get players that we were targeting, we were gonna end up using some of our fourth-round picks to come up. So the way I was looking at it was like, man, we need more than six players over these next two years, and we might only end up with four in this draft.”

The 49ers traded back a few times, and now that strategy makes sense with Shanahan’s explanation. Many considered this draft to have a weaker crop of players, and the later rounds would be much more of a dart throw than previous years. The team is in win-now mode, and some of the draft picks will be forced into action, but the notion of players contributing next year is encouraging to hear since there is no way to predict who will stay and go next season for the 49ers.

While Shanahan did admit it will be tough to envision all eight draft picks making the 49ers roster, he was happy to land that many prospects and explained how the number of picks and landing a sixth-round pick next season was a win.

“ So what was such a success I thought was we had six picks, we were able to move around a bunch, and at the end of the day, we added eight players. When I was nervous, we were only gonna be able to add four. So I think we added eight players who all have a very good chance of making our team, and on top of that, we added a sixth-round pick for next year, which I think is huge because we didn’t have one. That’s something we’ll want next year, and it’s all something that’s used a lot right before the trade deadline, if we need to do that, and just to have that gives us some ammo to improve our team this year if need be.”

Shanahan admitting the 49ers will be active at the deadline is the important piece here. The 49ers have usually made calls and deals around that time, but the statement shows the team will evaluate everything leading up to the deadline and know they have the ammunition to land a player who will impact the team down the stretch.