49ers roster: 5 players who dodged the ax with Niners draft results

No. 2: 49ers punter Mitch Wishnowsky

Yes, punters are people, too. And the 49ers would have gotten a lot of grief for using yet another draft pick on one after having done so, previously, with Mitch Wishnowsky back in 2019.

Speaking of Wishnowsky, he’s entering the final year of his rookie contract this season. And while he had plenty of collegiate accolades at Utah that helped boost his own draft stock, it’s safe to say the 30 year old hasn’t exactly been the dominant special teams force the Niners originally envisioned.

Case in point, his career-45.7 yards-per-punt average is fairly pedestrian for the position and not generally associated with someone teams would use a fourth-round pick on, as San Francisco did three years ago.

The 49ers owned a bad special teams metric last year, opposing offenses starting 29.5-yard line, which ranked 22nd best in the league. While Wishnowsky isn’t entirely to blame for that stat, the Niners easily could have looked to improve this third phase by grabbing one of the draftable punters on day three of the draft where they had six total selections.

Perhaps someone like San Diego State’s Matt Araiza or Penn State’s Jordan Stout would have fit the bill.

Alas, San Francisco didn’t waste the pick on a specialist, which is good. And it’s good for Wishnowsky, too.