49ers GM John Lynch says not drafting this player will ‘haunt’ him

Every year we see players who are overlooked by multiple teams in the NFL Draft turn into stars at the next level. That is simply part of the process, but San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch admitted on Sunday that he is kicking himself over not drafting one player in particular.

Lynch attended Patrick Mahomes’ pro day at Texas Tech prior to the 2017 NFL Draft. The 49ers had the No. 2 overall pick that year, but Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan committed to not drafting a quarterback and building out the rest of the roster in their first season together. Lynch said on Sunday that he started to rethink that plan after watching Mahomes throw.

“I remember going to his pro day, doing my job, but really it’s kind of a smokescreen because we were going elsewhere,” Lynch told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area. “And then calling our head coach, Kyle, and saying, ‘We might want to rethink this,’ because he put on a show.”

Lynch said it was a windy day in Lubbock and he and other NFL executives were blown away by Mahomes’ passing ability. He recalled Mahomes throwing a ball what looked like 80 yards into the wind. Lynch also had dinner with Mahomes and said he is an “incredible kid.”

The 49ers signed Brian Hoyer to serve as a bridge quarterback in 2017. They traded back one spot in the draft to select defensive tackle Solomon Thomas, who has not panned out and is scheduled to become a free agent next month. San Francisco traded for Jimmy Garoppolo midway through the season.

The Kansas City Chiefs traded up to get Mahomes at No. 10, so plenty of teams missed on him. One prominent NFL coach called Mahomes the best QB prospect he has ever seen in the draft. Lynch obviously got a glimpse of that in 2017, and you can bet he wishes the 49ers abandoned their plan.