Major Defensive Draft Powering Niners Rankings Rise

The San Francisco 49ers patiently waited out the NFL coaching cycle earlier this year, eventually reuniting with Robert Saleh, their unquestioned target of choice for their defensive coordinator vacancy. 

Saleh reclaimed this position with more marked hurdles to climb this time around. The Niners lost six defensive pieces to free agency with a number of those players commanding key roles on the defense last season. 

San Francisco boasts the talents of Nick Bosa and Fred Warner who remain the shining stars for this group. But they needed to pick up the pieces around those two. 

Staring Thursday night, they did just that. The Niners began their draft campaign by selecting Mykel Williams Bosa's de facto complement on the opposite side of their defensive line. 

With their next pick, the Niners' focused moved to the interior. They grabbed defensive tackle Alfred Collins in the second round. Already, San Francisco had replenished some major losses from the offseason. 

Level by level, they added more talent, spending in total their first five draft picks and six overall on that side of the ball. The vision of general manager John Lynch was clear and Saleh had his fingerprints all over this strategy. 

That's why the Niners vaulted up nine spots (the best of any team) in CBS Sports' latest post-draft power rankings. Pete Prisco argues they are one of several trending up in a major way. 

"They have lost a lot of players, but how many were stars and essential? Not many. They rebuilt the defensive line in the draft, which was a must. They have to stay healthy, but this is a team that still has stars on both sides of the ball."

A stronger defense helps everyone involved, even head coach Kyle Shanahan whose focus will be on revitalizing an offense that lost its luster last season. 

The other side of the coin here is that the Niners will be relying on some young players to lead this turnaround. For any team, such a transition will lead to some growing pains along the way. 

But the Niners set out a vision for the draft and executed it all according to plan. Now, they have a full offseason to get their group ready to support the veterans at hand and make the transition to the pros.