49ers alternate draft picks for John Lynch era
2017 Draft
Round 1, Pick 3
Actual pick: Solomon Thomas, DL, Stanford
New pick: Jamal Adams, S, LSU
The 49ers got a gift from the Chicago Bears to start the night when Chicago sent a 2017 third-round pick (67th overall), a 2017 fourth-round pick (111th overall), and a 2018 third-round pick to San Francisco in order to swap places in the 2017 draft.
The Bears used the pick to take North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky, while the Niners turned around and took Stanford defensive lineman Solomon Thomas—the player the team said they were planning on taking anyway.
Most pundits were pretty sure the Bears had gotten fleeced by Lynch, and praised the Niners’ new GM for the move.
A few years later, Thomas isn’t exactly performing like a first-round pick, having amassed only six sacks and 73 tackles in 46 career games so far. Part of the reason for his struggles have been personal, while others have been because the Niners weren’t putting him in the best position to succeed during his rookie year.
But to say the the 49ers wouldn’t have expected more from the No. 3 overall pick in Lynch’s first draft would be an understatement.
Former LSU safety Jamal Adams, on the other hand, has more than lived up to his pre-draft hype, having been selected by the New York Jets with the No. 6 overall pick in the same draft. Adams has shown himself to be a versatile piece for the Jets.
He’s racked up 210 tackles, two interceptions, six forced fumbles, and 12 sacks in 46 games so far in his career.
Both 49ers safeties, Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt, are playing well this year, but going into the 2017 season, the positions were in a much greater position of flux. Adams likely could have slid into either the free or strong safety role immediately.
Round 3, Pick 104
Actual pick: C.J. Beathard, QB, Iowa
New pick: Dede Westbrook, WR, Oklahoma
Heading into the 2017 NFL Draft, the 49ers quarterback situation was dire.
One of the first moves that Lynch and Shanahan had made in their initial offseason was to sign journeyman quarterback Brian Hoyer as a stop-gap option at the position, with many pundits believing that the 49ers were waiting on then-Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins to hit free agency the following offseason.
And while hindsight might tell you that the 49ers should have just drafted a quarterback in the first round like Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes, it’s pretty clear that Shanahan felt neither was a good fit for his offense.
So the Niners waited until the third round, where they selected former Iowa Hawkeye quarterback C.J. Beathard with the 104th overall selection, a move many felt was a reach at the time.
Beathard would go onto play in seven games as a rookie, starting five, and finishing the year completing 54.9% of his passes for 1430 yards, four touchdowns, and six interceptions. More importantly, the 49ers were just 1-4 in his starts.
And then on Halloween of 2017, the 49ers made a trade that likely changed the trajectory of the entire franchise. They sent a 2018 second-round draft pick to the Patriots in exchange for their long-time backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
While Beathard would go on to start twice more than season (including guiding the team to his only win as a starter in Week 10 against the New York Giants), Garoppolo stepped in for the final five games, all 49er wins.
Beathard also played extensively when Garoppolo went down with an ACL injury in Week 3 of 2018, but after playing poorly and suffering his own injury, lost his role to Nick Mullens, who took over as the starter for the remainder of that season and now sits as the 49ers backup quarterback.
All this to say, while Beathard has been effective as a placeholder for the quarterback position, it might have been more useful during this season’s Super Bowl run to have another weapon for Garoppolo to throw the ball to, hence why the new selection here is Jaguars wide receiver Dede Westbrook, who went six picks later in the early stages of the fourth round.
The former Oklahoma Sooner hasn’t exactly been tearing the league apart, and he’s missed 10 games in three seasons in Jacksonville, so there are some questions about durability. But I’d say it’s fair to think that the 49ers would take 159 catches for 1716 yards and nine touchdowns through the air combined with 14 rushing attempts for 125 yards over their third quarterback right now over a third string quarterback.
It’s not a flashy pick, but getting that kind of production out of a third rounder would be preferred over what Beathard offers right now, which is essentially an insurance policy that you wouldn’t expect to win you games in the event of an injury disaster.