Ranking SF 49ers 10 worst NFL Draft picks by John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: SF 49ers Quarterback C.J. Beathard
Selected No. 104 Overall in the 2017 NFL Draft
Many of the draft-day bad picks up to this point fall into the “should have, would have” category paralleling all the great “what ifs?” associated with NFL Draft history.
In the case of San Francisco’s third-round selection of Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard, though, almost nothing about it is good.
For starters, Beathard was reportedly the only quarterback Kyle Shanahan wanted in the 2017 draft class. Considering there were other top QBs available to the SF 49ers, including Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, it’s hard to fathom Shanahan was thinking such.
On top of that, Beathard was widely viewed as being no higher than a fifth- or even sixth-round selection. The Niners moved up into the tail end of Round 3 to grab him so Shanahan didn’t have to worry whether or not Beathard would fall to San Francisco’s first pick on day three of the draft.
Another gaffe right there.
There are many elements to point out regarding Beathard’s lack of success at the NFL level. But when one acknowledges he has just two wins out of 12 career starts within the pro ranks, there isn’t exactly much more that needs to be said. It was a bad use of a third-round pick, simple as that.