Redrafting the San Francisco 49ers’ horrible 2013 NFL Draft
By Peter Panacy
Round 6, Pick No. 180: Running Back Latavius Murray, Central Florida
Original Pick: ILB Nick Moody
The 49ers have already found a future-featured running back at this point in the 2013 draft, Le’Veon Bell, but adding some late-round competition would have been nice.
What Trent Baalke originally did here was land former Florida State linebacker Nick Moody, who ended up playing mostly on San Francisco’s special teams unit for the better part of two seasons.
OK, fine. Special teamers are often found at this point in the draft, so the move made sense.
Yet the 49ers might have been better off landing a player like Central Florida’s Latavius Murray, who went on to have three effective seasons with the Oakland Raiders after missing his rookie year.
Why this matters is because the Niners were hurting for productive tailbacks in both 2015 and 2016, when now-No. 1 running back Carlos Hyde was dealing with a multitude of injuries.
Sure, the whole context would have been different had the Niners taken Bell. But at least Murray would have been a nice change-of-pace option.