Redrafting the 49ers’ questionable 2014 NFL Draft
By Peter Panacy
Round 2, Pick No. 61: Tight End C.J. Fiedorowicz
Original Pick: Center Marcus Martin (No. 70 Overall)
Interesting point of note — wide receiver Allen Robinson ended up going to the Jaguars at No. 61 overall, which was originally a 49ers draft pick.
San Francisco traded down, adding a fifth-round pick in the process, and landed edge rusher Aaron Lynch with the extra commodity.
No one ever said Trent Baalke was bad at adding extra draft capital. That was a strength. But he should have stayed put here and landed now-Houston Texans tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz
Fiedorowicz’s stats over the past three years haven’t exactly been eye-popping. But it’s important to note the lack of quarterbacking that has plagued the Texans in recent years and, well, now.
But assuming we haven’t meshed our 2013 49ers redraft with this one (boy, wouldn’t that be fun), tight end Vance McDonald would still be on the team as San Francisco’s second option behind No. 1 TE, Vernon Davis.
Fiedorowicz would have been a much better option here and could have easily pushed McDonald to the periphery by his second season.
Instead, when Davis was eventually traded away in 2015, the Niners were left with a poor tight end crop — a problem that plagued San Francisco all the way to the 2017 NFL Draft.
But hey, at least Baalke managed to land third-round draft bust, center Marcus Martin, instead.
Yeah, that didn’t work.