The San Francisco 49ers have been criticized for their draft selections in recent years, but the 2026 class is getting a lot of heat for how early John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan picked them.
Perhaps the one earning the most hate is receiver De’Zhaun Stribling, whom the 49ers took with the first pick of the second round at No. 33 overall. Stribling was considered a Day 2 or Day 3 prospect, but not many expected him to be the first player off the board on Saturday.
According to NFL data expert Jack Lichtenstein, the Stribling selection was one of the biggest reaches since 2016. The Stribling pick ranked eighth since 2016 in draft capital spent over expected, based on actual selection versus the consensus big board. The only players ranked ahead of Stribling in the past 11 drafts were all first round picks: Terrell Edmunds, Tytus Howard, Jack Conklin, Cole Strange, Eli Apple, Clelin Ferrell and Artie Burns.
The largest Non-QB reaches since 2016 according to the NFL Consensus Big Board. Only one player makes the top 36 in this years class pic.twitter.com/MQ2rz0OvXA
— Jack Lichtenstein (@jacklich10) April 26, 2026
Now, those players had solid, if not great, NFL careers. Some are still in the NFL. But the fact remains that, by and large, these players could have been taken later if teams were willing to wait.
The difference, though, is that some teams don’t want to wait. They prefer to take the player they want, regardless of when they’re expected to take him.
This isn’t a bad strategy unless the pick clearly doesn’t work out. And we won’t know how Stribling fares in his NFL career until sometime later this year. And it’s not like Stribling had a bad college career, either. He caught 107 receptions for 1,693 yards and 12 touchdowns in the past 27 games.
He will have a clear role in the 49ers offense, just not one that necessarily warranted a top-35 selection.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers’ draft pick considered one of the biggest reaches over 11 years