49ers Disrespected by Mel Kiper's NFL Draft Grades

The San Francisco 49ers were one of the many teams without a first-round pick at the 2022 NFL Draft last week, but that didn't stop them from walking away with a decent prospect haul. Unfortunately, not everyone is a fan of their draft showing.

ESPN's Mel Kiper has somewhat disrespected the 49ers with his annual NFL Draft grades, giving the organization a B- grade for their 2022 performance.

49ers NFL Draft Grade

Kiper's main issue with the 49ers is that he finds that they "reached a little too much" with some of their picks. One example is that he said that LSU running back Tyrion Davis-Price — taken 93rd overall — was selected "a couple of rounds earlier than I thought."

Kiper also listed defensive back and wide receiver as the 49ers' top pre-draft needs, yet the organization only ended up taking two cornerbacks (with the first being selected in Round 5) and one wideout.

USC linebacker Drake Jackson was San Francisco's first pick of the event, getting selected 61st overall. Kiper thinks that Jackson has a high ceiling but still needs to take a big step forward after putting up only five sacks last fall.

Even if Kiper's grades are somewhat disrespectful, his opinion isn't the be-all and end-all. The 49ers' new crop of rookies could end up hitting their ceiling and end up not looking like reaches in a few years.

San Francisco is still expected to be a top team next season, regardless of its rookies' current projections. FanDuel Sportsbook is giving the 49ers +1600 odds (T-No. 6) to win Super Bowl LVII next February.

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.