SF 49ers: 5 players who can now safely be called ‘busts’
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: SF 49ers Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon
Another member from the Niners’ questionable 2017 NFL Draft class here.
San Francisco had two third-round picks that season, quarterback C.J. Beathard (an early bust already) and cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, and it’s an awful shame neither came close to panning out to desired levels. True, Witherspoon actually made some headway at various points during his up-and-down tenure with the SF 49ers, starting his rookie season and then looking like a potential Pro Bowler early in 2019.
But those high points were interwoven with serious regression, first in 2018 and then again during the second half of last year where injuries played a factor.
Witherspoon lost his starting job multiple times in the Niners’ run-up to Super Bowl LIV, and then he found himself a healthy scratch often in 2020 despite San Francisco having a noticeable shortage of cornerbacks because of injuries.
A free agent to be next year, Witherspoon is easily the one free agent at the position fans everywhere can agree won’t be back with the team in 2021.
It’s a shame, too, because there were flashes of brilliance.
Only the lack of consistency made it where Witherspoon couldn’t pan out as a long-term option.