San Francisco 49ers: Top 5 NFL Draft classes in franchise history
By Peter Panacy
![10 Sep 2000: Ronnie Lott of the Ex-San Francisco 49ers talks to the crowd with Dave Wilcox and Joe Montana during the game against the Carolina Panthers at 3Com Park in San Francisco, California. The Panthers defeated the 49ers 38-22.Mandatory Credit: Tom Hauck /Allsport 10 Sep 2000: Ronnie Lott of the Ex-San Francisco 49ers talks to the crowd with Dave Wilcox and Joe Montana during the game against the Carolina Panthers at 3Com Park in San Francisco, California. The Panthers defeated the 49ers 38-22.Mandatory Credit: Tom Hauck /Allsport](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/f54d2c60b8300b31212fe18bb18f007ddcbb6252951296437538da2ab520b8ea.jpg)
The San Francisco 49ers have fielded some great players over the years, many coming through storied NFL Draft classes. Here are the top five Niners draft classes in franchise history.
The San Francisco 49ers owe much of their storied history to a run of successes during the NFL Draft.
Whether it be grabbing future Hall of Famers Jerry Rice or Ronnie Lott with their first pick, or taking a flier on a young quarterback out of Notre Dame in Round 3, the Niners have surely put together some pretty stellar draft classes over their storied franchise history.
Good teams are almost always built via the draft, and the 49ers exemplified this during their heyday years of the 1980s and 1990s.
Heck, even a handful of drafts from the down 2000s might be worthy of consideration.
In this slideshow, we’ll look back at San Francisco’s draft history and identify the five best NFL Draft classes the franchise has put together.
Starting off with a few that didn’t quite make the cut.