Niner Noise
FanSided

San Francisco 49ers: 10 worst NFL Draft picks of the decade

By Titus Briseno

Solomon Thomas of Stanford with Commissioner of the National Football League Roger Goodell after being picked #3 overall by the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
Solomon Thomas of Stanford with Commissioner of the National Football League Roger Goodell after being picked #3 overall by the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 10
Next
Tyrod Taylor, Tank Carradine, 49ers, Ravens
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor #2 of the Baltimore Ravens against defensive end Cornellius Carradine #95 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

No. 6: Defensive End Tank Carradine, Round 2, 2013 NFL Draft

Another one of those “what if?” picks, and yet another one of the infamous Trent Baalke “All-Injury” squad, which came to dominate the middle part of San Francisco’s draft efforts this decade.

Florida State defensive end Tank Carradine was supposed to be a star at the NFL level after such an explosive 2012 season in college, where he picked up 11 sacks.

The Niners thought they had a steal by grabbing Carradine in Round 2 of the 2013 draft, namely due to a late collegiate injury that was likely going to sideline him for his rookie season. The plan was, at the time, to have Carradine eventually replace aging veteran defensive end Justin Smith.

Only it never materialized.

Then-defensive coordinator Vic Fangio used to point out Carradine was making far too many mental mistakes during practice, cutting into the defensive end’s field time. Even when Smith retired in 2015, the 49ers couldn’t rely on Carradine to fill the void.

He was off the team’s roster in 2018.