Let’s be honest about how Lynch came into the fold: When Shanahan hired him, Lynch was to be a figurehead — someone to execute the head coach’s desired moves and be a universally beloved figure in the increasingly political world of the NFL.

Lynch proved to be more than that, and he quickly gained Shanahan’s trust when it came to actually building and maintaining a roster. In turn, he’s taken on far more than initially anticipated.

But the backbone of that success was the dynamite staff Lynch assembled (in addition to the aforementioned, Lynch’s original director of football research and development, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, is now the GM of the Vikings). Collectively, Lynch’s team helped build the Niners into the perennial contenders they are today, despite not having a superstar quarterback throughout the tenure.

That foundation of on-field success was built in the draft. I’d argue no team in the league has been more bespoke with their draft rankings than the Niners. Big hits from later-round picks (Fred Warner, George Kittle, Purdy) became something of a 49ers specialty. Peters has received a lot of external credit for that success.

But how much of that success can be attributed to Lynch? How much of that was his staff? Does Shanahan get a bad rap when it comes to drafting?

So long as Lynch always credits the collective for everything, we’ll never fully know.

And Lynch isn’t going to abandon his belief in the power of the group, even with new folks taking on larger roles.

But while this is a group project, the hierarchy remains. Tariq Ahmad — previously the Niners’ director of college scouting and Peters’ one-time right-hand man — is now Lynch’s No. 2 on draft matters.

We’ve already seen some changes with how the 49ers handle their roster with RJ Gillen — who, alongside Ahmad, was promoted to director of player personnel this offseason — stepping into the role as Lynch’s consigliere on free agency this offseason.

Ahmad has been in the room for the hits and misses of drafts past, but with his voice carrying more sway these days, it’ll be fascinating to see if the 49ers’ approach sticks to the team’s tried-and-sometimes-true formula or changes.

One change we know has been made. Lynch says the Niners are “much more data-driven” regarding the draft these days.

What does that mean?

We’ll have a read on it all by the end of the weekend.

As for the true results of the annual player selection meeting, we won’t know if it was a hit or miss for years yet.

But for this team, there’s only one viable result at this time: It better be a hit.

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