Ranking SF 49ers 10 worst NFL Draft picks by John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan

No. 4: SF 49ers Wide Receiver Dante Pettis

Selected No. 44 Overall in the 2018 NFL Draft

Reuben Foster and the No. 4 player on this list, wide receiver Dante Pettis, both have something in common: San Francisco traded up in the draft to grab both of them.

In Pettis’ case, it was in Round 2. And while some draft analysts saw Pettis merely as a prolific return specialist (he was certainly that at Washington) and a third-down slot receiver, Kyle Shanahan envisioned a scenario where he could use Pettis’ exemplary footwork and separation skills to create a dynamic multivalue receiving threat in his reconstructed wide receiver corps.

Early on, it seemed as if that would be the case. Pettis finished strong his rookie season, eventually finishing with 467 receiving yards and five touchdowns — numbers largely skewed towards the end of the year and suggesting he’d be a viable starting-caliber pass-catcher.

But Pettis struggled mightily the following offseason where he was dogged by focus drops in training camp. Shanahan called him out early in 2019, and that seemed to indicate the head coach lost all confidence in the receiver’s abilities.

And when the SF 49ers made the Super Bowl that season, Pettis was a healthy scratch.

Any hopes for a resurgence the following year were dashed when Pettis again returned to the ranks of the inactives, eventually leading to him being waived and claimed by the Giants.

So much for good use of a second-round pick.