Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/988322
40 JUNE/JULY 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED at right tackle. The 49ers have for- mer first-round pick Joe Staley at left tackle, so McGlinchey will move back to the right side to begin his career. "Every time [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] and I just kept watch- ing him, he just kept getting better," Lynch explained. "You go into the makeup of the kid — he is one of the smartest players in the draft — and he is off the charts in terms of his presence." Pre-draft mocks had the 49ers looking at a number of positions, including linebacker and defensive back, but the decision makers in San Francisco knew who they wanted to take … assuming he was still on the board. "[The week before the draft] we decided that if he's there at nine, he's the guy we're taking," Lynch stated. "We were going to listen to some of- fers if McGlinchey wasn't there, and we had other guys in line. "But we're very pleased to have added Mike McGlinchey to our team." Lynch and Shanahan are well aware of how difficult it is to find top edge players on the offensive line, which made the opportunity to land a prospect they view as an elite pros- pect at that spot too hard to pass up. "God didn't create a bunch of great offensive tackles out there. They are limited," Lynch said. "We think we found a guy who has an opportunity to be that. … We talk a lot about guys who represent what it takes to win games, to win championships. We feel like he's got a lot of that in him. "You keep the film running after a play, and even though he's 6-8 and 310 pounds, he's running 30 yards down field to pick up his running back. Those are things that speak to us. "He consistently does his job over and over. It's not easy playing tackle in this league, so it's not going to be perfect, but we found a guy who we believe can do it well for a long time." McGlinchey was a two-time cap- tain at Notre Dame, and the 49ers found out during the lead up to the draft what those that cover the Fight- ing Irish the last five years already knew — McGlinchey is just as good off the field as he is on it, if not even better. "We had 60 interviews at the Combine. He was a guy that came in and just kind of owned the room and everyone felt it," Lynch said. "It wasn't just me. Kyle felt that way. Our coaches and our scouts that were in the room felt that way. He's got a special presence to him. He's real, he's authentic and he's a badass, and we like that. "We think he's a game-changer in terms of the type of person he is, the presence he has. It all made it an easy choice for us." SMYTHE BROUGHT IN BY DOLPHINS TO COMPETE The Dolphins spent their second- round pick on former Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki, which made the fourth-round selection of for- mer Notre Dame tight end Durham Smythe a bit surprising. Neverthe- less, the Miami brass had a plan. "We wanted to create competition at that spot," Dolphins general man- ager Chris Grier said. "We spent a lot of time with all of these guys. With Durham, we had a really good inter- view. We liked what we saw on film. We saw him play down here versus Miami. "For us, we are adding another guy who can block, another body to the roster to compete with those guys. It just gives you more opportunities and creates competition, which will make all those guys better." When the Dolphins selected Smythe, he became the fifth tight end of Kelly's tenure to get drafted. In fact, since 2004 every game one Durham Smythe continued a 14-year tradition of starting tight ends for Notre Dame getting picked in the draft, going to the Dolphins at No. 123 overall in the fourth round. PHOTO BY PETER MCMAHON/COURTESY MIAMI DOLPHINS