The San Francisco 49ers went eight full quarters without scoring a single touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks. So, naturally, the first thing they did in the offseason was sign a 29-year-old Christian Kirk and a 32-year-old Mike Evans.
Then, to make things even better for the Seahawks, they traded out of the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft and used their No. 33 pick to get De'Zhaun Stribling. The Ole Miss product was projected as a third-round pick, and they took him ahead of potential stars like Denzel Boston or Germie Bernard.
Fast forward to today, and it feels like that move has gone completely under the radar. No rave reviews from spring workouts, not even worrisome reports. It's starting to feel as if everyone just decided to ignore the 49ers' head-scratching gamble.
The 49ers may have wasted a chance to close the gap with the Seattle Seahawks
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds, Stribling turned heads by running a 4.36 40-yard dash at the combine. Other than that, there's not much to say about the Ole Miss product, an extremely athletic but even more unpolished route-runner who may need a year or two before being ready.
The mere fact that we haven't heard anything about him or his privileged physique speaks volumes about how far behind he might be in his development. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that, but using the first pick of the second round on a player like that is just terrible asset management, especially with better prospects still up for grabs.
The 49ers had already wasted a pick on Ricky Pearsall, who can't seem to stay healthy, and they've now added a poor man's DK Metcalf to their logjam of underwhelming or injury-prone pass catchers. That's doubling down on the same things that doomed them.
The Seahawks have some steep competition to win back-to-back Super Bowls this season, starting in their own division. The Los Angeles Rams should be a force to be reckoned with, especially with superstars like Myles Garrett, Trent McDuffie, and maybe even Aaron Donald arriving at SoFi Stadium.
As for the 49ers, they might be closer to blowing up the roster than to taking the next step. And with moves like the De'Zhaun Stribling and Kaelon Black picks, it's hard to justify why the current regime should be in charge of digging them out of the hole they've dug themselves into.
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