The first thing that De'Zhaun Stribling and the 49ers did as a team was make an absolute laughing stock out of the NFL draft "experts".
The best of the draft boards have been sleeping on Stribling, and underselling him as a Day-3 prospect at best. Naturally, when the Niners take him as the first pick of Round 2, the entire industry consensus goes up in smoke.
NFL Mock drafts were sleeping on De'Zhaun Stribling
While the "Experts" were busy pigeonholing Stribling as a late-round flyer, John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan weren't buying the discount.
By trading down twice on Day 1 to hoard assets and then sprinting to the podium at No. 33, the 49ers essentially told the mock draft community their rankings weren't worth the paper they were printed on.
Critics spent months knocking Stribling for lacking lateral agility, the Niners showed they valued his elite vertical strength and 4.36 speed over his shortcomings.
Stribling's massive production, 199 combined yards in the playoffs against Georgia and Miami, showed he’s a big-game hunter fitting like a piece of the puzzle in Shanahan's gritty system.
That said, the Niners going for a wide receiver this early was a shocker for the entire draft community, too. Mike Evans and Christian Kirk. By drafting Stribling anyway, they showed they’re thinking three steps ahead, while everyone was still stuck on last week’s news.
But that doesn't erase the fact that Stribling remained so incredibly undermined all offseason long. If it weren't for the Niners, there was a whole bunch of NFC receiver-needy teams ready to draft him in Round 2.
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