The 49ers have had a lot of hits in the NFL Draft, but these 10 high-profile names just never managed to work out after being selected.
Like any team, the San Francisco 49ers have had their share of good and bad selections over the years in the NFL Draft.
There were some seriously bad gaffes, such as the 2012 first-round grab of wide receiver A.J. Jenkins out of Illinois, who was inactive for almost all of his rookie season and ended up being targeted just once during his Niners career, a pass he dropped.
Other other-worldly mistakes, such as the 1997 first-round addition of quarterback Jim Druckenmiller, always wind up on the list of worst San Francisco draft picks of all time.
While a number of players on this list here would fall on similar lists, let’s revise the criteria a bit and skew it towards 49ers high-profile draftees, who for whatever the reasons, simply didn’t cut it at the NFL level or meet desired expectations. The “bust” label could be applied to some of them, yes.
But rather let this be a reminder even the best prospective players at the college level don’t always wind up providing dividends within the pros.
Starting off with one player fresh on Niners fans’ memories.
49ers Defensive End Solomon Thomas, Stanford
Selected No. 3 Overall in the 2017 NFL Draft
The first pick of the head coach Kyle Shanahan/general manager John Lynch era could have been quarterback Patrick Mahomes or quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Instead, San Francisco went with the “safe” pick, grabbing Stanford defensive end Solomon Thomas at No. 3 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft after moving down one spot via a trade with the Chicago Bears.
At least one of those picks gained in return helped the 49ers land All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner a year later, so that was a win at least. Yet Thomas, who was intended to be a pass-rushing nightmare for a rebuilding Niners squad never came close to panning out and ended up being a mere rotational player as San Francisco continued to invest more in its defensive line with the likes of EDGE Nick Bosa two years later.
Thomas registered a mere six sacks over his four-year 49ers stint, and his tenure with the team came to an unceremonious close when he suffered a torn ACL in 2020 before departing in free agency to the Las Vegas Raiders the following year.
49ers Defensive Tackle Reggie McGrew, Florida
Selected No. 24 Overall in the 1999 NFL Draft
Injuries can play a big role in any player simply not panning out at the NFL level, and that could easily be the case for the Niners’ top pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, former Florida defensive tackle Reggie McGrew, who shot up draft boards after an impressive finish to his junior season that saw him receive All-SEC honors.
San Francisco traded up three spots in that year’s draft to grab McGrew, who was going to be the perfect complementary piece to defensive tackle Bryant Young.
Yet a number of injuries derailed McGrew’s NFL career right out of the gate, and he failed to see the field for his rookie year at all. And while he managed to finally get out and into games the following year in 2000, appearing in 10 total, McGrew was featured solely as a backup anyway and would hold that lowly role for just two seasons before being waived after 2001 and joining the Atlanta Falcons for one year.
McGrew’s stat line for the 49ers? A mere 11 tackles, zero quarterback hits, one sack and three passes broken up.
Yeah, McGrew never panned out.
49ers Running Back Glen Coffee, Alabama
Selected No. 74 Overall in the 2009 NFL Draft
The Niners seemed to be on the rise entering 2009, and the third-round addition of Alabama running back Glen Coffee appeared to be an absolute steal. Coffee, who rushed for a whopping 1,383 yards and 10 touchdowns while adding another 118 receiving yards in 2008, was going to be the dynamic complementary player to San Francisco’s already established running back, Frank Gore, making then-head coach Mike Singletary’s offense so much more potent.
Well, yeah. That didn’t happen.
Coffee managed to actually start two games his rookie season, appearing in 14 total where he rushed for 226 yards and a touchdown while averaging just 2.7 yards per carry.
A follow-up campaign for Coffee could have been far more impressive. But he called it quits for his NFL career, electing to pursue another passion with US special forces.
While that part is certainly admirable, Coffee’s efforts with the 49ers didn’t endear him to the fanbase, and he ended up being a third-round pick the Niners would certainly like to have back.
49ers Linebacker Chris Borland, Wisconsin
Selected No. 77 Overall in the 2014 NFL Draft
Up to this point, each former San Francisco draftee named simply didn’t have careers that were overly impressive up to the point where either he or the team wanted to move on.
This certainly wasn’t the case with the 49ers’ third-round pick from the 2014 NFL Draft, Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland, who was projected as being too short and small (6-foot-0 and 248 pounds) to make a sizable difference on anything but special teams at the pro level.
But when linebacker NaVorro Bowman suffered a serious knee injury the previous January during the playoffs, Borland suddenly found himself featured in a prominent role and quickly endeared himself to the NFL ranks as a defensive playmaker always around the ball.
Borland’s rookie season was nothing short of impressive, him racking up 108 tackles, a sack, four passes defended and two interceptions as the Niners looked to make up for Bowman’s absence. And with fellow linebacker Patrick Willis aging and destined to retire soon, although no one knew it at the time, Borland would have been a perfect transition player.
Except Borland also retired the following offseason, citing concern over head injuries and a desire to not subject his body any further to the rigors of life at the pro level.
Fans can only wonder what could have been if Borland elected to stick with it, potentially being a far-above-average defensive player and a potential cornerstone of San Francisco’s defense.
Too bad it never worked out that way.
49ers Defensive End Tank Carradine, Florida State
Selected No. 40 Overall in the 2013 NFL Draft
If you thought the 49ers were getting a steal in Round 2 of the 2013 NFL Draft when they drafted Florida State defensive end Tank Carradine, you probably weren’t alone.
After all, before suffering a torn ACL late in the season that year, Carradine had amassed an impressive 11 sacks his senior year before declaring for the draft. And with the Niners already loaded with talent entering the 2013 season, they could afford to redshirt Carradine for his rookie year and let him loose the following campaign.
But much like Solomon Thomas, Carradine got off to an awfully slow start when he was finally placed on the field. For starters, he was a 4-3 defensive end being asked to play in a 3-4 front under then-defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, and Fangio repeatedly indicated Carradine needed a lot of adjustment after making too many mental mistakes.
And by the time Carradine had finally cut his proverbial “NFL teeth,” he was merely established as a quality run defender and not the prolific pass-rusher San Francisco had initially envisioned.
Carradine managed to hang around with the 49ers for five seasons, though, eventually moving on after 2017. Also like Thomas, though, Carradine’s stat line with the Niners wasn’t impressive: 76 tackles, zero quarterback hits and 5.5 sacks over 44 games played, only eight of them starts.
While Carradine should be considered a bust, his ACL tear certainly didn’t help, and many of us fans thought he’d be much more impactful a player than he turned out to be.
49ers Running Back Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina
Selected No. 131 Overall in the 2013 NFL Draft
The 2013 NFL Draft wasn’t overly kind to San Francisco. And while it made sense at the time, former general manager Trent Baalke’s attempts to grab injured players and redshirt them for their rookie seasons would come back to haunt him not long afterward.
Like Tank Carradine, South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore was a collegiate stud who should have been selected much higher if it weren’t for a devastating injury late during his college career. Only in Lattimore’s case, it wasn’t a clean ACL tear but rather a nasty injury where he tore multiple ligaments in his knee and suffered nerve damage, too.
Yet the 49ers were willing to be patient, particularly with Frank Gore still churning out yards, and the hope was a fourth-round investment in Lattimore would be a steal as he’d spend 2013 rehabilitating his knee while working towards taking over the Niners’ ground efforts after Gore eventually departed.
It would have been an exciting proposition. But the challenges of getting back into football shape proved too painful and difficult for Lattimore, and he elected to retire in November of 2014 despite his promising efforts.
It’s too bad, too, as Lattimore would have been exceptionally exciting to watch on Sundays.
49ers EDGE Aldon Smith, Missouri
Selected No. 7 Overall in the 2011 NFL Draft
It seems a little unfair to put EDGE Aldon Smith so high on this list, let alone on it at all. Because truly, Smith was an elite-level player for his first two years, threatening the record for most sacks by a rookie with the 14 he recorded after being taken by San Francisco No. 7 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft.
And the following year, Smith shot up the single-season all-time sack leaders list by recording a whopping 19.5 in 2012 amid both a Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro campaign, suggesting the 49ers had found themselves a pass-rusher in the mold of the Hall of Famer, Charles Haley.
Even in 2013, when Smith wasn’t quite where he was the year before, he still managed to record 8.5 sacks.
Yet Smith never quite panning out had to do with his off-field issues and struggles with alcoholism more than anything else, and fans know those storylines all too well. Multiple arrests and run-ins with the law ultimately decreased his value to the Niners, which led to his eventual release in 2015 and subsequent lengthy suspensions by the league from 2016 through 2019.
If there’s a positive, however, Smith attempted to turn his life around and made it back into the NFL ranks.
Just not with San Francisco.
Cornerback Mike Rumph, Miami
Selected No. 27 Overall in the 2002 NFL Draft
In 2002, the 49ers were trying to figure out ways to defensively contend with the St. Louis Rams’ prolific offense, the “Greatest Show on Turf,” and the Niners figured Miami cornerback Mike Rumph would be a great addition to match up with Rams wide receivers like Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce.
With all due fairness to Rumph, he probably shouldn’t have been a first-round selection. Yet San Francisco was banking on Rumph’s ballhawking ways after he recorded six interceptions over the course of his three-year career with the Hurricanes, hoping that kind of production would carry over to the 49ers secondary.
Well, that never happened.
Rumph struggled with man-coverage skills, which prompted the Niners to try him out as a safety instead after two seasons at cornerback. While that move generated some modestly better results, Rumph missed the bulk of his 2004 and 2005 campaigns with injuries, and San Francisco decided it was best to simply move on, trading him to Washington in 2006.
It sure seems like it’s been a long time since the 49ers drafted and developed a top-tier cornerback, and Rumph’s flameout in the early 2000s certainly didn’t help matters at all.
49ers Tight End Ken MacAfee, Notre Dame
Selected No. 7 Overall in the 1978 NFL Draft
Going back a ways into the archives here at a time when the NFL Draft wasn’t quite the publicity affair it is today.
1978 is a year most 49ers fans would like to forget anyway, and it didn’t start off as well as it was initially planned. The Niners used their first pick that year on Notre Dame tight end Ken MacAfee, who managed 1,759 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns over four years with the Fighting Irish and looked to be just as prolific a player at the NFL level.
Hence San Francisco’s investment of the No. 7 overall pick that year.
But MacAfee wasn’t anything close to the dynamic playmaker on the field at the NFL level. And after two seasons where he managed a combined 471 receiving yards and five touchdowns, head coach Bill Walsh asked him to switch from the offensive side of the ball over to the defense.
MacAfee refused to do so and instead elected to retire, pursuing a career in dentistry instead.
Can you imagine if a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft today elected to call it quits so soon after being selected so high?
Yeah, it would be a shocker.
49ers Wide Receiver Rashaun Woods, Oklahoma State
Selected No. 31 Overall in the 2004 NFL Draft
Admit it: if the 49ers selected a Big 12 wide receiver today who had three seasons of 1,000-plus receiving yards, you’d be pretty stoked.
Well, that’s what the Niners were getting when they selected wide receiver Rashaun Woods out of Oklahoma State with the No. 31 overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. Woods had 1,023 receiving yards his sophomore year, then backed it up with an exceptional 1,695-yard campaign in 2002 before finishing off his collegiate tenure with 1,367 receiving yards his senior year.
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If those stats were being looked at in today’s NFL Draft era, fans would be jumping up and down for their team to draft him.
Woods was initially intended to replace the future Hall of Fame wide receiver, Terrell Owens, which are understandably big shoes to fill. Yet the success Woods enjoyed at the college level never came close to materializing after San Francisco made him a first-round pick.
His rookie season netted a mere seven receptions for 160 yards and a touchdown before spending 2005 on injured reserve. The 49ers traded him away the following season, and Woods never made an impact anywhere else in the league.
As far as busts go, Woods is right up there towards the top. Although it would have been hard to predict such a dramatic fall for a player who was so fun and exciting to watch before he went to the pros.