San Francisco 49ers: Regrading 2017 NFL Draft class
By Peter Panacy
![Solomon Thomas of Stanford with Commissioner Roger Goodell after being picked by the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) Solomon Thomas of Stanford with Commissioner Roger Goodell after being picked by the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/b926477d01ae2b3555db750090cb2cce36f84e2913bd652b91e87673c0497352.jpg)
Running Back. Utah. JOE WILLIIAMS. F.
C.J. Beathard might have been the 49ers’ first “bad” pick during the 2017 NFL Draft as conceived at the time.
But the Round 4 selection of former Utah running back Joe Williams was also another head-scratcher.
Kyle Shanahan wanted Williams, who had his own questionable past at the collegiate level. But John Lynch didn’t, eventually being turned by Shanahan and making the Round 4 selection to grab the Utah tailback.
Yet Williams quickly fell out of favor during training camp, leading to the Niners redshirting him his rookie season with an ankle injury.
The following year, Williams failed to make the team’s 53-man roster and has been out of football ever since.
There isn’t any other way around it: a fourth-round selection on a two-year training camp body isn’t a good use of assets.