John Lynch has proven to be an amazing General Manager for San Francisco, and early projections show that he has done the best job possible with his draft picks. The defense is holding against the Seahawks in Week 2 of the season, and that is all that can be asked of a team that was very young and devoid of talent before Lynch was hired. Can the 49ers make an impression before the year is over, get out of the bottom of the draft, and plan for the future? It appears they can.
Holding the Seahawks does not guarantee wins
This writer is not guaranteeing wins for the 49ers.
The 49ers fan in me wants to say that they could be making a breakthrough, but they are likely showing that they have potential more than they are making a case to win games. They are not deep enough to compete late in games with good teams because good teams will send out the second unit and crush the 49ers. That is reality. However, the 49ers are showing that they have the right pieces for a rebuild. They need more time, but something has clearly worked in their Front Office since John Lynch was hired.
The analyst GM
John Lynch worked in TV before he got this job, and that is part of what makes him so good. He had perspective working outside the league that told him how to manage a team. He could watch every team in the NFL screw up, and he could watch certain teams do the right things over and over.
He had to report on the league in this capacity, and that means that he already knows what he wants. He walked into his office on the first day with an idea of what he wanted, what he did not want, and a long list of mistakes that he would not make. John Lynch's hiring should give hope to Kenny Smith of TNT. Fans have been begging Kenny for years to get a GM job in the NBA.
This might show that guys who do that job have the knowledge necessary to get it done.
How long will it take?
The 49ers need years to get this thing together, but they will have a team that can compete for a long time to come if Kyle Shanahan turns out to be a good coach. They have a lot of history and tradition in that office, and it would be wise for them to look back at how John McVay and Carmen Policy ran the team.
Shanahan is no Bill Walsh, but he could become part of a team that makes the 49ers a class organization once again. It would be simple to change this team around because no one is paying them any mind. 49ers fans will watch when they improve, and that leaves time for the process of rebuilding to be completed.
