10 superstars 49ers could have drafted but unwisely didn’t
49ers 2013 draft re-do
Actual pick: Vance McDonald, TE, Rice – Rd 2, Pick 55
New pick: Travis Kelce, TE, Cincinnati – Rd 3, Pick 63
The first like-for-like replacement pick in the bunch is maybe the one that, at this point, looks the worst (although it will get worse later).
The idea of the 49ers taking a tight end to pair with Vernon Davis after the departure of Delanie Walker to the Titans was a good one. The execution of the pick turned out to be less than stellar, though.
Vance McDonald was only moderately productive in college at Rice, grabbing a total of 119 receptions for 1,504 yards and 15 touchdowns, albeit for a team that a) wasn’t good and b) didn’t throw the ball all that much.
But what the Niners saw in McDonald, outside of his being a solid athlete, remains to be seen and the tight end never really showed enough as a receiver to feature as a real threat alongside Davis in the offense.
McDonald played for the 49ers for four seasons, catching 64 passes on 118 targets for 866 yards and seven touchdowns in 48 games. He was eventually traded to Pittsburgh in 2017 for a 2018 fifth-round pick. He retired in 2021.
It barely needs to be said how much better Travis Kelce has been than McDonald over the course of their respective careers. Initially, it looked like Kansas City had swung and missed on its third-round pick when Kelce played in just one game and caught zero passes on zero targets.
But since his rookie campaign, Kelce hasn’t caught fewer than the 67 passes for 862 yards he managed in his sophomore season, and he’s in the midst of a run of six straight seasons of catching 80-plus passes for over 1,000 yards.
Imagine Kelce and George Kittle, who would be drafted a few years later, on the same team now. I’m not sure San Francisco could have kept both, although Kelce’s current contract is a steal based on his production, but it’s a fun thing to consider.
Plus, having both Kelce’s on the 49ers would have been awesome.
Either way, the Niners missed on this pick pretty badly, and even if the Kelce/Kittle combo would have never happened, having just Kelce until Kittle arrived would have been preferred to McDonald.