No team’s front office is immune to NFL Draft mistakes, and the SF 49ers have their share of gaffes under John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan.
Teams never get 100 percent of their picks from the NFL Draft correct 100 percent of the time. It’s impossible.
So one has to at least acknowledge the positive additions the SF 49ers have made since 2017 under general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan. After all, the Niners netted arguably the biggest steal of the 2017 NFL Draft, tight end George Kittle, in Round 5 that year.
The following year, the SF 49ers made All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner the selection in Round 3. Then San Francisco wisely grabbed EDGE Nick Bosa at No. 2 overall in the 2019 draft, and it’s looking like wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is becoming a lock for the “great pick” category after he burst onto the scene in 2020.
But for every Bosa, Kittle and Aiyuk out there, there are some equally perplexing and/or disappointing selections.
Kittle made the 2017 draft worthwhile. The SF 49ers’ other selections were, for the most part, underwhelming that year, to say the least, while 2018 wasn’t exactly dominant outside of Warner.
If you’re looking for Lynch and Shanahan’s best draft picks since 2017, all you need to do is check out this list.
For the pessimist, we’ve got you covered with Lynch and Shanahan’s 10 worst picks to date.
No. 10: SF 49ers Right Tackle Mike McGlinchey
Selected No. 9 Overall in the 2018 NFL Draft
Some may argue the opening spot on this list of not-so-great picks should go to slot receiver Trent Taylor, who was grabbed in Round 5 of the 2017 draft. But injuries thwarted what could have been a budding career, and the lack of noteworthy expectations from fifth-round picks halts that to a point.
As such, the No. 10 player here is right tackle Mike McGlinchey, who was the Niners’ opening selection in the 2018 NFL Draft.
McGlinchey was something of a shocking selection since San Francisco already had a starting-caliber right tackle, Trent Brown, in place. But Shanahan wanted a better run-blocker and got one with McGlinchey.
Yes, McGlinchey is still one of the league’s better run-blocking lineman, and that’s a boost. But the SF 49ers intended for him to take over for left tackle Joe Staley when the latter retired. The fact McGlinchey remains entrenched at right tackle a year after Staley’s retirement is an indicator those hopes have been dashed.
While McGlinchey has emerged as a decent enough player, the fact the Niners passed on other top performers like safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Derwin James makes this selection a bit more painful and a solid opener for this particular list.
No. 9: SF 49ers Tight End Kaden Smith
Selected No. 176 Overall in the 2019 NFL Draft
San Francisco has seemingly been on a never-ending quest to find a complementary tight end to pair with George Kittle, and those efforts essentially began in 2019 when the team used a sixth-round selection on Stanford’s Kaden Smith.
Granted, there was a lot to like about Smith coming out of college. He was a versatile pass-catching weapon, and his blocking skills were generally seen as adequate enough to fill the depth needs in a variety of roles.
But Smith became something of a forgotten commodity during his rookie training camp sessions and failed to make the 53-man roster.
Shortly thereafter, the NY Giants claimed him from the SF 49ers and made him part of their offensive plans, although Smith hasn’t exactly cemented himself as a worthy NFL-caliber starter.
It’s not a terrible waste of a pick from the Niners’ vantage point, given Round 6 selections are often little more than fillers on the depth chart. Yet considering Smith quickly flamed out after joining San Francisco warrants placement at No. 9.
No. 8: SF 49ers Punter Mitch Wishnowsky
Selected No. 110 Overall in the 2019 NFL Draft
Generally speaking, only teams who have the minimal amount of roster holes to fill during an offseason should spend a draft pick on a specialist.
That wasn’t the case for the SF 49ers entering 2019, at least not based on the previous year’s finish, yet John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan earned the negative association of being the first squad to select a specialist in that year’s NFL Draft, Utah punter Mitch Wishnowsky.
True, there was a good chance Wishnowsky wasn’t going to last beyond Round 4, and the Niners had all intention of replacing their former punter, Bradley Pinion, who departed via free agency earlier that offseason.
Still, San Francisco wasn’t exactly in a position where it could spend a much-needed early day-three pick on a specialist.
Since that point, Wishnowsky has been merely an OK punter by most standards. While his tackling skills are exemplary, that’s not the reason why the SF 49ers grabbed him.
From now on, the Niners should target specialists only after the draft has completed and from the ranks of the undrafted.
No. 7: SF 49ers Defensive Tackle Kentavius Street
Selected No. 128 Overall in the 2018 NFL Draft
Despite it being a relatively underwhelming draft class, San Francisco’s efforts in 2018 mostly made sense. The SF 49ers sent Trent Brown off via a trade following the Mike McGlinchey pick, and subsequent selections filled areas of need.
But there was one selection that made almost zero sense that year: the fourth-round addition of NC State defensive tackle Kentavius Street.
Street was coming off a torn ACL suffered during his pro-day workouts, and Niners fans needed no reminders how former general manager Trent Baalke used to use picks on players who had gone through serious injuries.
True, Street has tremendous strength. And building up the depth along the defensive line is rarely a bad strategy to take.
Yet when one looks at Street’s role since returning to the field and sees a mere 18 games played with 15 tackles and zero sacks, all one can do is think that pick would have been better used elsewhere.
The Philadelphia Eagles’ Josh Sweat, who has 10 sacks over the last two years, ended up being selected two picks later and would have been a better, safer selection.
No. 6: SF 49ers Running Back Joe Williams
Selected No. 121 Overall in the 2017 NFL Draft
It’s going to be a while before John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan shake off the NFL Draft mistake that was running back Joe Williams.
Fans may recall how Lynch wasn’t a fan of Williams, who was carrying a reputation of quitting on his team at the collegiate level. But Shanahan managed to change Lynch’s mind about the selection. And with San Francisco undergoing a teamwide rebuild anyway, using a fourth-round pick on Williams didn’t seem like much of a bad idea.
The only problem, though, was Williams suffered from some serious fumblitis during his brief time with the team, and that dogged him throughout training camp and into the preseason. The SF 49ers elected to redshirt Williams his rookie year with an ankle injury, hoping he’d be able to turn things around in 2018.
He didn’t.
Williams failed to make the 53-man roster again and was subsequently waived. He hasn’t played a down of regular-season football since.
Fortunately for Williams’ reputation, other Niners picks overshadow this Round 4 gaffe.
No. 5: SF 49ers Linebacker Reuben Foster
Selected No. 31 Overall in the 2017 NFL Draft
There are some who’d argue the 2017 first-round selection of linebacker Reuben Foster should rank much higher on this list.
But hear us out for a second.
At the time, Foster had the talent to be considered a top-10 pick that year. Yes, there were both injury and off-field concerns surrounding the Alabama product. But the on-field accolades and potential impact were certainly there, and most NFL Draft experts considered it an absolute steal for San Francisco to trade back into Round 1 and grab him at No. 31 overall.
During his rookie season, Foster looked like that steal despite dealing with an early injury. For those reasons, he doesn’t quite make it towards the top two or three bad draft picks.
Things fell apart the following offseason, though, where multiple run-ins with the law and off-field issues eventually forced San Francisco to part ways with the talented-yet-troubled linebacker in November of 2018.
Fortunately, the SF 49ers were able to land Fred Warner a year later, and the memory of Foster has mostly dissipated as a result.
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.
No. 3: SF 49ers Wide Receiver Jalen Hurd
Selected No. 67 Overall in the 2019 NFL Draft
At least Dante Pettis got to see the field and make an impact. The same can’t be said of wide receiver Jalen Hurd, who ranks one spot ahead of Pettis on this list.
Granted, it’s not all Hurd’s fault. The 6-foot-4 converted collegiate running back was supposed to be a mismatch weapon for Kyle Shanahan and the Niners offense, and there are likely still some fans who believe Hurd can reach that now-distant goal.
Except for Hurd, who did flash his rookie preseason, suffered a serious back injury before the regular season even began and then dealt with an ACL tear entering 2020.
To date, Hurd has yet to step on the field for a regular-season snap.
While the book isn’t entirely closed on Hurd just yet, the chances of him making an impact are slim. For starters, he only played wide receiver for just one year in college, so he’s still new to the position. On top of that, factoring into San Francisco’s offensive plans after missing back-to-back years with injuries won’t help matters either.
It’s hard to say Hurd was a complete bust. But if Shanahan and John Lynch could go back in time, there’s no doubting they’d want to undo this Round 3 selection and instead go with someone else who would have stayed healthy enough to contribute.
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.
No. 1: SF Defensive End Solomon Thomas
Selected No. 3 Overall in the 2017 NFL Draft
There’s an argument the first pick of the John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan regime, Stanford defensive end Solomon Thomas, wasn’t exactly placed into a situation where he could thrive and live up to the accolade of being the No. 3 overall player selected.
More from SF 49ers All-Time Lists
- Building the greatest 49ers all-time offense in franchise history
- 49ers all-time best NFL Draft picks by each round
- Famous 49ers players who jumped ship and joined Raiders
- 10 tailgate foods (and recipes) 49ers fans should try and will love
- The 10 worst tailgate foods 49ers fans should hate (but don’t)
After all, the SF 49ers did Thomas no favors by playing him extensively on the outside his rookie season instead of his more-natural inside position. Despite this, Thomas was still regarded as one of the safest picks from the 2017 NFL Draft, and the thinking was the SF 49ers would get a prolific pass-rusher who’d dominate opposing offensive linemen for years en route to being a cornerstone piece around which the franchise would rebuild.
That never materialized, of course, and the Niners would instead use subsequent first-round selections on other defensive linemen like Nick Bosa and Javon Kinlaw.
If there’s some solace with the pick, Thomas emerged as a good rotational player for San Francisco’s D-line, and those are important to have. In 2019, with Bosa the featured pass-rusher, Thomas still made enough of an impact to help bolster the depth. But after four seasons, including missing all but two games with an ACL tear in 2019, Thomas has just six sacks and never came close to reaching the expectation level associated with top-five picks.
Making it worse, and the No. 1 overall bad pick by Lynch and Shanahan, was the fact the SF 49ers could have had the elite NFL quarterback of their choice, Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson, instead.