The San Francisco 49ers play their home games near Silicon Valley, where advocacy for AI is unwavering despite mounting concerns about its environmental impact and how much people actually want it.
Count the Niners among the evangelists who are counting on AI to do the hard work for them as they prepare for the 2026 NFL Draft.
San Francisco GM John Lynch told reporters on Monday that the franchise was using AI to help them evaluate potential draft picks.
“If you aren’t using it, you’re already behind. And the cool thing is, what we found is you don’t need to be an expert,” said Lynch. “Just like you at home, planning a travel itinerary, you can just ask the thing, and it can spit out pretty good things. Some pretty good ideas.”
On behalf of the 49ers, we hope they’re using some form of closed-loop generative AI and not relying on internet sources to drive their draft-day decision-making. Lord knows what kind of mock drafts and random-person evaluations that AI is pulling from.
Lynch’s admission also generated some fun feedback from football fans.
I thought that Microsoft Copilot commercial where the NFL scouts use AI to tell them which player to pick was at best stupid and at worst wholly offensive to anyone involved in scouting.
John Lynch saw it and said “hell yeah.”
— Curt Hogg (@cyrthogg.bsky.social) April 20, 2026 at 2:32 PM
The absolute best-case scenario is that he’s subtly bragging about how the team is using advanced modeling to project physical characteristics, or something. The worst case is that he’s asking a chatbot for draft advice and doesn’t realize he’s interacting with a stochastic parrot.
— David 29 Sunset (@29sunset.com) April 20, 2026 at 2:41 PM
With their first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers select QB Peyton Brady
— Corey Rayburn Yung (@coreyryung.bsky.social) April 20, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Tired of being an expert? Good news! …
— Mitch Goldich (@mitchgoldich.bsky.social) April 20, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Guess Jets have been using AI for years
— Mike Vorkunov (@mikevorkunov.bsky.social) April 20, 2026 at 2:13 PM
We wish the 49ers the best.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.