John Lynch makes eye-opening statement about 49ers using AI in 2026 NFL Draft prep

Apr 21, 2026 - 05:00

As the hours tick by until the start of the 2026 NFL Draft, all 32 teams, including the San Francisco 49ers, are looking for some small edge to put themselves in the best position to succeed.

For some, that might be a scout being a friend of a friend of a small position player about to become a Day 3 superstar. Others might have gotten intel on a star quarterback’s birthday party guest list and who did or didn’t attend, at least if you believe the Kevin Costner movie Draft Day.

And for the 49ers? Well, San Francisco has taken a page from Silicon Valley and begun to use AI in their draft process, a strategy that John Lynch told reporters on Monday will only continue to grow over the months and years to come.

“If you aren’t using it, you’re already behind. And the cool thing is what we’ve found, you don’t need to be an expert, just like you at home setting up a travel itinerary, just ask the thing, and it can spit out some pretty good things,” Lynch noted. “Some pretty good ideas, our developers, I think, I think we’re fortunate to be where we are down at the epicenter of the innovation there, and we’ve tried to take advantage of that. And I do think every team is probably using it in some form or fashion. And I think that will only increase as we move forward.”

While what kind of AI the 49ers are using may fall firmly under the trade secret category, be that categorizing the sizes of players, or some sort of future projection, it’s clear that NFL teams aren’t shying away from using every piece of information at their disposal to draft the best player, be that old-school ground-‘n-pound scouting, or advanced artificial technology.

John Lynch on using AI more in draft preparation:
“If you aren’t using it, you’re already behind.”
: @VicTafur pic.twitter.com/vQjmsre3dr
— Coach Yac (@Coach_Yac) April 20, 2026