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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 /
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No. 3: 1968 49ers NFL Draft Class

Drafted Players Table
Rnd Player Pick Pos Yrs From To College/Univ
1 Forrest Blue 15 C 11 1968 1978 Auburn
3 Lance Olssen 65 T 2 1968 1969 Purdue
3 Skip Vanderbundt 69 LB 10 1969 1978 Oregon St.
4 Johnny Fuller 98 DB 8 1968 1975 Lamar
5 Dwight Lee 125 RB 1 1968 1968 Michigan St.
6 Lee Johnson 141 WR 2 1969 1970 Tennessee St.
6 Bill Belk 153 DE 7 1968 1974 Md-Eastern Shore
7 Jerry Richardson 179 LB Mississippi
8 Charley Brown 206 T
8 Tom Gray 207 FL Morehead St.
9 Casey Boyett 233 E BYU
10 Tommy Hart 261 DE 13 1968 1980 Morris Brown
11 Dennis Fitzgibbons 287 G Syracuse
12 Henry Johnson 315 QB Fisk
13 Tom Mitrakos 341 C Pittsburgh
14 Alex Moore 369 RB 1 1968 1968 Norfolk St.
15 Clarence Spencer 395 FL Louisville
16 Tom Rosenow 423 DT Northern Illinois
17 Dennis Patera 449 K 1 1968 1968 BYU

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/23/2018.

Can you imagine an NFL Draft approaching nearly 20 rounds?

Flash back to before the modern era, and that’s what you have. And if anything, the 49ers certainly enjoyed shotgun-approach success in the 1968 draft class.

The 1960s 49ers teams may have slipped a bit in recent memory, but this particular class under former head coach Dick Nolan gains notoriety. The team’s first pick that year, Forrest Blue, is likely viewed as the 49ers’ best center in franchise history. He would go on to receive four Pro Bowl nods and be named All-Pro twice in his lengthy career.

Linebacker Skip Vanderbundt is a name that doesn’t jump off fans’ memories. Yet he was a mainstay of the 49ers defense all the way through the late 1970s. So was defensive end Tommy Hart, who has a Pro Bowl to his name.

What makes this class stand out from the earlier eras of Niners football was how this crop of players set up the franchise for a nice run of success between 1970 and 1972, where the team made the postseason in three consecutive years.

Pretty impressive, even if you weren’t around to remember it.