San Francisco 49ers: Ranking the 10 worst trades in franchise history
By Peter Panacy
No. 9: 49ers move up to grab Corey Lemonier in 2013 NFL Draft
Fortunately for John Lynch and Co., there are plenty of other general managers who did much worse with San Francisco’s trade efforts.
Fans will probably cringe at what former general manager Trent Baalke did to the roster from 2012 through 2016, considering he inherited a Super Bowl-caliber squad that was awfully dominant during the early portion of that span.
Yet while Baalke was known for stockpiling picks, only to frequently use them on injured players, one of his other bad moves was to move up from No. 93 overall in Round 3 of the 2013 NFL Draft to No. 88 overall by sending the Green Bay Packers a seventh-round selection.
Again, not a bad move in of itself. But the player Baalke selected, former Auburn pass-rusher Corey Lemonier, ended up being a complete bust.
True, Lemonier flashed in 2011 with the Tigers, accumulating 9.5 sacks that year. But those abilities never translated over to the pro level. Lemonier was frequently pushed beyond the pocket by merely OK offensive linemen, and he’d amass just a single sack during his three-year stint with the 49ers before being jettisoned in 2016.
Considering how lacking the Niners roster was with talent in 2015 and 2016, the miss on Lemonier hurts in so many ways and has to be included on this list.