Madden bug that has last through every update. Waited to see if it would ever get fixed. Low effort over at @EASPORTS with the @EAMaddenNFL devs. Franchise Mode is broken.
Something is rotten in Santa Clara.
The 49ers draft process isn’t just off, it’s systematically broken. The 2026 class is just the latest entry in a 5+ year pattern of pissing down their own leg.
Here's a summary of the 2026 class:
- A 60-pick reach in Round 2.
- A flawed “need” player over higher-upside talent.
- And, of course, the "Shanahan classic:" a RB taken 40-70 spots earlier than expected while premium positions sit untouched.
This isn’t misfortunate. It’s a pronounced, fundamental failure to understand value and evaluate talent. One reach is defensible. Doing it every year, while consistently flaunting the board, is malpractice.
Take Stribling: the Niners passed on higher-graded players at positions of need - Bisontis, T.J. Parker, Kayden McDonald, Cashius Howell, C.J. Allen, Colton Hood (all who went within the next 8-9 picks) - to draft a traits-based WR projected for the middle of Round 3, if not later. Best case, he develops into a good player but contributes nothing this year while immediate impact options at guard or edge go elsewhere.
Then they trade back from 58, passing on players like Anthony Hill and Keyron Crawford, only to land Romello Height, a 25-year-old with a capped ceiling. Even if he produces, the opportunity cost is glaring. You don’t pass on young, ascending talent for marginal contributors unless you’ve got a broken framework for evaluating talent.
And then the signature move: reaching ~60 picks for Kaelon Black. A fine player, sure, but with no distinguishing traits (call him Jordan James redux...but taken 60 picks earlier). A Day 3 back taken on Day 2 while OL (Trey Zuhn, Gennings Dunker), WR (Chris Bell), EDGE (Barham), and S (Jalon Kilgore) talent remained on the board. It’s not just suboptimal, it’s flat-out incoherent.
At some point, this stops being debatable. Under @JohnLynch49ers, this regime has gone 6 drafts without producing a single Pro Bowl player. The results aren’t unlucky; they’re consistent. And consistently mediocre at best (see 2024/2025) and disastrous (2021, 2022 and 2023) at worst.
@JedYork, tolerating this is a choice. And that choice is settling for permanent underachievement. Enough is enough.
cc: @grantcohn@sportslarryk@Chase_Senior@SharpFootball@dieter@hutchdiesel
Holy heck man.
The 49ers are sure as hell making some questionable decisions...
They traded away picks that were used to draft Omar Cooper Jr and Emmanuel McNeil Warren's
Imagine the vibes right now if they took OCJ at 27 and EMW at 58.
We'd be saying A+++++ draft
No team has reached further for players in the first two days of the NFL Draft than the 49ers - and shockingly, the results have not been great.
Naturally, when you're sitting at pick 33 and multiple teams are calling to trade up, the only logical move is to ignore all of them and instead reach nearly 60 spots for your guy.
The Chicago Bulls are waiving guard Jaden Ivey after his recent anti-LGBTQ comments amid several rants on religion and other topics, sources tell ESPN.
@LombardiHimself We chose Armstead, Tartt, and Ward over Buckner. Sometimes quantity doesn’t match a proven player.
Not the same scenario here though because we’re landing several proven commodities. Maxx would be insane paired with a healthy Bosa though.