49ers president of football operations John Lynch has derived positives from San Francisco’s frustrating 2024 NFL season.
The executive discussed some bright spots in spite of San Francisco's 5-6 record on the latest episode of "49ers Game Plan" with NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco.
“Playing with a young secondary -- guys like [safety] Ji'Ayir Brown, I think he’s taken a next step in his evolution,” Lynch told Maiocco. “Some of the free agents we brought in, frankly -- [edge rusher] Leonard Floyd, I just love his mentality. He’s an old-school guy that we’ve played against for years.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
“Guys like [edge rusher] Yetur Gross-Matos, who’s had some injuries here; Yetur, we really made a focus of getting guys that are healthy and available, and he’s been healthy his whole career, we get him and he gets nicked; those are the breaks, but he’s back now, and I think he’s starting to play some good football.”
Lynch has liked what he has seen from Brown, Floyd and Gross-Matos.
Brown has become an everyday player in his second campaign after San Francisco selected him No. 87 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. After starting just five games last season, Brown has started every 49ers game during the 2024 campaign and is up to 54 tackles and five passes defended.
Floyd, a proven nine-year NFL veteran and Super Bowl champion, already has 6.5 sacks for the 49ers. He tied his career high of 10.5 sacks with the Buffalo Bills last season -- who he can’t wait to face on Sunday -- and probably will finish his first campaign in the Bay with a similar total. Lynch especially is glad Floyd is with San Francisco, considering the edge rusher was an irritant for the 49ers during his three years with the Los Angeles Rams (2020-22).
San Francisco 49ers
Find the latest San Francisco 49ers news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Gross-Matos recently has flourished following a slow start and five-game absence due to a knee injury. He was a positive in San Francisco’s 38-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 12 with four tackles.
The 49ers’ season isn’t over, nor are their playoff hopes gone. But San Francisco soon has to start showing signs of life -- and dominance -- to climb out of the depths of the NFC West. And Lynch is banking on it.
“There are a lot of positive developments, we got a good football team; we got to start playing like it,” Lynch said. “It’s not acceptable, it’s not up to our standard not to play to your capabilities. And we got a lot of capabilities.
“We got a high-character team, and I’m looking forward to us starting to play like we’re capable of playing.”
Lynch is staying optimistic and acknowledging his players amid San Francisco’s unlucky campaign.