Improving the defense, who’s in charge, and other takeaways from 49ers’ 2019 NFL Draft

Let’s take a look at the five most important takeaways from the 49ers’ eight-player haul in the 2019 NFL Draft:

1. Improving secondary starts with bolstering pass rush

The 49ers largely ignored their pressing need to add pass rushers off the edge in last year’s draft. But they were aggressive this offseason, trading for Dee Ford after his Pro Bowl campaign and using the No. 2 overall selection on Ohio State’s Nick Bosa.

The key to defending in the pass-happy NFL is pressuring quarterbacks without relying on the blitz, and coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch hope their investments can prop up a secondary that struggled last season.

The 49ers’ two interceptions were the fewest in league history, though Shanahan would argue that fell more on the line’s inability to generate pressure than the secondary playing poorly. He expects the addition of Ford and Bosa to have dramatic ramifications.

“I don’t think we dropped too many (interceptions) as a whole, which should tell you something,” Shanahan said. “We’ve got to cause more havoc on that quarterback so he throws some wild passes that do come to us, and if they drop too many, then we’ll have to put our receivers there.”

The 49ers didn’t invest heavily in the secondary despite it seeming like a pressing need when the draft began. They added one defensive back, Virginia’s Tim Harris, in Round 6. Simply put, they feel confident in their recent investments at cornerback and safety, including third-round picks Ahkello Witherspoon (2017) and Tarvarius Moore (2018), and free-agent acquisition Jason Verrett, a first-round pick of the Chargers in 2016.

Perhaps next offseason they give the secondary the same treatment they did edge defenders this spring — if the young players don’t show the necessary signs of improvement.

2. Shanahan makes it clear who’s running the show

Drafting two receivers seemed plausible, particularly finding one as early as Round 2. Picking South Carolina’s Deebo Samuel at No. 36 overall was almost as predictable as landing Bosa at No. 2. Samuel’s route running and ability after the catch make him tailor made for Shanahan’s offense.

What wasn’t expected was tapping Baylor’s Jalen Hurd (6-foot-5, 226 pounds) early in Round 3. Hurd is hardly the refined receiver Shanahan typically covets. But making sense of the pick requires projecting his role. Remember, the 49ers were interested in free-agent tight end Trey Burton before he signed with the Bears in 2018. Burton would have been an intriguing complement to George Kittle as a versatile H-back.

That may be where Hurd ends up, offering San Francisco unique athleticism and a skill set the offense hasn’t had since Shanahan took over. Shanahan was asked Saturday how Hurd compares to Burton.

“He’s got that type of body. I think he can do more things,” Shanahan said. “I don’t know if we would have used (Burton) as a running back and stuff, also, but yeah, I think he’s a very similar build.”

Hurd began his college career as a powerful running back at Tennessee, weighing roughly 240 pounds. He changed positions and transferred to Baylor, hoping he could save his body from the pounding. But he’s far more limber than most tall running backs and could be dangerous with the ball in his hands. If Shanahan can get him in space, like he did so often with Kittle last season, Hurd could become a valuable weapon.

It didn’t come without risk. Hurd has had multiple shoulder surgeries and didn’t run at the combine because of meniscus surgery. It’s the type of pick an offensive coach makes when he has ultimate sway in the building.

3. Late-round picks have a good chance to make the team

The 49ers don’t necessarily abide by the cliche of drafting for value and need. They create their board relative to their roster, particularly in the later rounds. In other words, they focus on finding players they think can make the roster and develop into contributors rather than focus on finding the best players regardless of context.

That’s the basis of logic behind their picks on Day 3, including punter Mitch Wishnowsky, undoubtedly their most polarizing selection of the draft.

Yes, the 49ers could have used secondary help in Round 4, but none of the players available were better than the players on the roster in the eyes of Shanahan and Lynch. They believe Wishnowsky could be their punter over the next decade which, to them, has more immediate value than a corner or safety that would likely be a backup in Year 1.

“You look at our secondary now and everything,” Shanahan said, “and it’s not the easiest thing in the world to go draft a guy who can just come in and beat out Richard Sherman, Jason Verrett, Ahkello, Tarvarius Moore. Those aren’t easy things.”

The decision not to address the secondary early could define how this draft class is viewed in the future. Otherwise, the team appears confident Day 3 picks like linebacker Dre Greenlaw, tight end Kaden Smith, tackle Justin Skule and Harris could provide roster depth this fall.

4. The new training staff will be tested early

The 49ers are asking new head of player performance Ben Peterson, head athletic trainer Dustin Little and strength and conditioning coach Dustin Perry to shoulder an enormous load in their first season together. Several of the 49ers’ most important players, including recent draftees, have injury issues that have to be handled correctly if San Francisco is going to be in the playoff mix.

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, running back Jerick McKinnon and linebacker Kwon Alexander are working back from ACL tears. Bosa missed the final 11 games last season because of sports hernia surgery. Samuel dealt with recurring hamstring injuries in college. Hurd’s shoulders and knee bear monitoring, particularly if he’s asked to add weight to play a different position. Cornerback Tim Harris was given medical red-shirts in 2016 and 2017 because of shoulder and wrist injuries, which might explain why he was a sixth-round pick and not drafted on Day 2.

There’s also Jimmie Ward, the favorite to start at free safety who ended four of his five seasons on injured reserve with fracture bones. And Verrett has played in just five games since going to the Pro Bowl in 2015 due to injuries, including a torn Achilles’ last summer.

Yes, football is a violent game and it’s nearly impossible to only add players with clean injury histories. But it’s clear the 49ers’ have not necessarily prioritized durability under this regime.

5. Will the buzz around Bosa’s political views/social media history die down or gain steam?

It was somewhat jarring to see President Donald Trump congratulate Bosa on Twitter over the weekend, considering everything the the 49ers went through in 2016 with Colin Kaepernick, who couldn’t be further on the opposite end of the political spectrum.

Bosa enters the NFL facing questions about insensitive posts on social media, including “likes” of Instagram pictures with racist and homophobic captions while he was in high school. He apologized for those, and calling Kaepernick “a clown,” during an awkward introductory news conference Friday — and it appears the team is going to do what it can to shield him from having to answer those questions going forward.

But there’s little doubt he’ll be asked about being backed by Trump, and other polarizing political figures, while playing in one of the most liberal areas of the country. It puts those covering Bosa in an awkward place because of the binary political climate we live in.

If journalists don’t press Bosa on his political viewpoints, some will label the media as complicit toward bigotry. If journalists question Bosa about Trump, others will implore the media to “stick to sports” and leave politics out of it.

Suffice to say, the climate surrounding the coverage of Bosa will be unique, particularly given the team’s liberal history in support of Kaepernick during his protest against racial discrimination and police brutality.

Will it fade into the background or gain steam? And how will it impact the locker room and the way Bosa’s teammates view him? Will Bosa’s viewpoints change? Will he be vocal about them? Or will he decide against answering non-football related questions altogether?

Everything that’s been said about Bosa as a teammate has been positive. If that remains true, then it’s likely the story will dissipate, particularly if he becomes the dominant pass rusher many expect.

This story was originally published April 28, 2019 at 2:35 PM.