President of Football Operations and General Manager John Lynch and Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

President of Football Operations and General Manager John Lynch

and Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – April 24, 2026

San Francisco 49ers

We’ll start with the last pick first. What was the logic or the thinking in taking a running back before you even take an offensive lineman where you have an opening there at left guard?

President of Football Operations and General Manager John Lynch: “Yeah. I think we talked a lot about staying true to our board and our convictions, and [RB] Kaelon Black was a kid that we just, like you hear this story a lot as the process went, just kept feeling better and better and better. His film speaks for itself. Really hard-running kid, rocked up kid, had an opportunity to visit with him at the Senior Bowl, met with him at the Senior Bowl, and you can’t help but love the kid and everything he stands for. You know, people there just talk about one of their favorite kids in the program. A lot of that from the school, from the strength coach, from the offensive coordinator, and then you turn on the film and we really feel like he can help us in a big way and we’re really excited to have landed him.”

Not many passes caught this last year. But, he did catch some at James Madison. So, are you confident that he can really fit into the passing game as well?

JL: “Yeah. I think he can handle himself there. I think that’s another thing, Senior Bowl, you evaluate everything. Senior Bowl, you turn on his one-on-ones, I was there, Kyle watched it on the film, and the one-on-ones really stood out. So, while he wasn’t featured at Indiana, like you mentioned, at James Madison did a little more of that. Think he can have a role there as well and just couldn’t be happier to have him.”

As far as WR De’ Zhaun Stribling, he’s got a reputation as a really good blocker. Is that something that you saw and does that mean that he can kind of step into that WR Jauan Jennings F position?

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan: “Yes, definitely. I think everyone knows how good of a blocker Jauan is and how big he’s been for us in that way. So, we have a hole without that. So, this guy definitely could fill that. For me, I don’t ever start watching receivers block, it all has to do with the football. And I really fell in love with him with the ball as a route runner, how fast he is, how big he is, how good his hands are and how physical he played with the ball. When you watch a guy with that size and how physical he runs with the ball, you assume he is a good blocker. And then to hear the people who are further along than I was say he is the best blocker in the draft. He has an elite blocking skill. And then to confirm it after that, it was really cool to watch.”

JL: “Guys really quick too, I wanted to start with this, and I failed to do so. [Dallas Cowboys LB] Dee Winters, we made that trade today and that’s tough. Dee’s a guy who’s done a lot for us here. Sixth-round pick out of TCU, but Dee is one of the favorite guys in that locker room amongst his teammates. He’s done a lot for us on the field. We just felt like we were in good position at linebacker. And Dallas has been really interested in him for a long time. I’d say the talks probably started with myself and [Dallas Cowboys chief operating officer and co-owner] Steven Jones when we were talking about [DL] Osa [Odighizuwa]. They’ve stayed on that. We kind of held it off for a while, and as we got there today, we just felt like it was the right thing to do for our team. It’s a good opportunity for Dee. I think there’s a lot of opportunity for him to shine and just very grateful for Dee’s time here and all his contributions he made to our squad.”

I do understand past Drafts have absolutely nothing to do with this Draft, but when you guys are talking about we’re going to take a running back in the third round, Kyle, you even joked once about when you took Washington Commanders K Jake Moody, can’t believe we didn’t take a running back in the third round. Does it register with you, like, we haven’t had much success doing this in the past?

KS: “Honestly, I forgot about that too until you just said that (laughter), but now I remember everything. No, it doesn’t hit us, but it’s fun to mess with each other on. But, we don’t think it’s relevant, but hopefully we have better luck.”

With DL Romello Height, he played for four programs over six seasons. So, you had a lot of tape, I’m guessing. Did his get-off improve? What jumped out about his get-off because that’s so important with that position with you guys?

JL: “Well, his year at Texas Tech was just a spectacular season. They’re a really good football team. You turn on that tape, and we do a lot of evaluation just based on how hard, how relentless does a guy play. We feel like Romello is at the top of this draft in terms of the effort, the tenacity the relentlessness with which he plays with. And we were all in on that. And so, we made a little move to get back from 58. We thought that was a good move, and we were hanging on, we wanted to have Romello there. He lasted to 70 and we made the pick with a lot of conviction. We’re really excited to have him. I mean, you turn on that tape, it was [New York Jets DL] David Bailey on the other side, [Carolina Panthers DL] Lee Hunter in the middle, Romello Height, and they were wreaking havoc and that’s what we want to be and we think he can help in a big way. He’s going to have to come earn it, but he’s got a lot of the indicators that we look for. He’s got some Gumby-like qualities. He’s real loose. And he can get after the quarterback.”

To follow up on Romello, he kind of talked about the kind of guy he wants to be for this team, an energy guy in the locker room, kind of a glue guy somewhat is what he said, but then also someone that kind of seemed like he had a really good encounter with linebackers coach K.J. Wright. What kind of guy are you getting out of Romello Height?

JL: “Well, I think we’re getting a guy who loves the game. We did have a nice visit. He met with, these poor guys, they’re asked who they met with. They meet with a lot of people. When we bring them in, we take them over to TopGolf. And Romello actually came before the TopGolf thing because he had a schedule conflict, but Romello, we had a tremendous visit. He met with K.J., he met with [defensive line coach Kris] Kocurek, he met with a lot of people, met with Kyle and I, and handled himself really well.”

Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris has had luck with guys like Los Angeles Rams LB Byron Young and Atlanta Falcons LB Jalon Walker. Do you envision a similar role? Can you kind of lay out what you see for Romello in terms of that?

KS: “Yeah, with Romello with me, he was on the ball rushing, so he looked like a defensive end and how he played, and especially being opposite of Bailey. And the way he played, the style he played is exactly what we want. Very relentless. We have a hair on fire grade, and he was the top of it. And just the style that he did. When you’re done with the tape and you get to like body type and stuff, he is somewhat tweener like that like someone would say maybe [New York Giants LB] Arvell Reese is or something like that. So, there’s lots of varieties you can do with him. Raheem has a ton of experience in doing that. We’ll see how he does use him. You see him on the line of scrimmage all the time in college. You’ve seen him drop before. So, he’s a guy you can use in a linebacker role. He is a guy you can use in a rush role. So, we’ll see what Raheem does with him. But, I think he’s similar to the guys that you compared him to.”

What went into the decision to trade down from 58? There were some pretty good safeties on the board. Were you just locked into Romello Height?

JL: “It wasn’t all about Romello at that point, but we just felt like we had a lot of guys on our board there that we still liked. And I will tell you at some point in there, we started hoping that Romello would get there. And we were thrilled when he did.”

What do you make of the fact that he didn’t really break out until his sixth year in school?

JL: “He broke out, and we liked what we saw. Everybody’s got a different journey. They all do, and you have to evaluate it all, but what we saw in that year at Texas Tech really spoke volumes to us.”

Can you give us a little behind the scenes of running backs coach Robert Turner Jr. and Kaelon Black and how that relationship evolved?

JL: “Yeah, I mean, the one thing, we joke about it, but it just speaks to what makes Bobby Turner great. You know, he lives this stuff. He’s got his number two pencil out, one of the last around that still uses that number two pencil. He calls these guys multiple times. And you know, Kyle asked Kaelon about Bobby T and his interaction. He said, ‘I love Bobby T,’ and we all do. And you know, Kaelon’s his type of guy. He’s a hardworking dude, a hard running dude, and such a great kid. That really is one of my favorite interviews. You know, interviews are just part of the process. On the way to Mobile, I always take a load of guys. I’d watched him in the fall, but really on the way to Mobile studied him and then sat down with him. And I knew about the kid, knew about his background, but really learned who the kid is and how hungry he is and what a bell cow he was for that program, and that program’s a pretty special program, what they’ve been able to accomplish. He came with [Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt] Cignetti from JMU, and he hit the big time, and he rotated, but they ran the football a lot. They ran it really well, and he was a big part of that.”

Is there anything he said to you that really kind of triggered you to go, okay, this is a great prospect?

JL: “It’s nothing they say. I think it’s just a feeling you get for the type of person you’re dealing with. And then it always goes back to the film. So, you put those together, and I think he presents exactly how he plays and that’s always a good thing.”

I realize your board won’t reflect public opinion. Regarding De’Zhaun and Kaelon where you guys picked them, you didn’t feel like you could let them slide farther than that?

JL: “That’s where we had them, and we had a lot of conviction on each of them. And you know, De’Zhaun, we listened. There were a lot of calls for 33 because it is a coveted pick. But you know, at the end of the day, our entire building had conviction. And there’s a lot to love about the kid. He’s a big, strong guy who plays with tremendous physicality, legit speed. To be that size running a 4.39, that shows on tape. It’s not just a time that you never see on film. He’s got that speed and he shows it. And we love the total package.”

You guys have picks at 107, 127, 133, 139, and I don’t know if you guys feel like you have a starting left guard right now. Do you believe you either have the starting guard on the team now or can you get that guy with those picks that I just mentioned?

JL: “Well, first of all, you just mentioned the picks we have. We’ll see where the draft takes us. We believe we have good options. You know, [OL] Connor Colby is a guy who started six games for us, a seventh-round pick from Iowa last year. We like the progression that Connor had. We like where he’s at, how he’s looking. As he enters year two, you know, year one to year two is always a big jump. And we hope to get that jump from Connor. We went out and added some competition with [OL] Robert Jones and [OL] Brett Toth, two guys that have started games in this league. And Brett has been more of a center, but we believe that his skills translate to give him a chance at that left guard. And so, we have options there and we’re excited about those options.”

You said after the season you probably needed to add speed on offense, or it would be nice to. When you were thinking about wide receiver, was that kind of a must-have quality when you were looking at wideouts?

KS: “No.”

High on the list?

KS: “Nope. I don’t think I’ve ever really had a must have. I have preferences. You always prefer speed, but just because you might not have as much speed on your team as you want, it doesn’t mean you just draft the fastest guy possible. I’ve done stuff like that in the past and you try to balance things out to make it perfect and when it’s said and done, you’re like you know what would make us better? Taking the best football player. They come in all different shapes and sizes. I think we were fortunate to get a guy who could really run. The main thing is how he plays overall. Speed is a big asset of his game, but it’s not the reason we drafted him. It’s one of many.”