The 49ers are hurting for talent entering 2025, largely thanks to what was a disastrous 2023 NFL Draft class.
ESPN's Mina Kimes brought up a good point when evaluating just how important the 2025 NFL Draft is to the San Francisco 49ers.
In her perspective, while speaking on NFL Network, Kimes pointed out how the aggressive 2021 trade-up for quarterback Trey Lance (one that cost the Niners back-to-back first-round picks in 2023 and 2023) ultimately denied general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan top-end prospective talent.
Now, in the aftermath of substantial player departures during the 2025 offseason, San Francisco's reset feels more like a scramble drill.
It might be an understatement to stress how poor the results have been from the 49ers' 2023 draft class, and the fact the first- and second-round picks were needed to execute the now-failed Lance experiment only drives the point home even further.
But, exactly how bad were the picks the Niners made?
2023 NFL Draft is haunting the 49ers to this day
San Francisco didn't make a selection in 2023 until Round 3, and then Lynch and Co. made the following selections:
- Round 3: DB Ji'Ayir Brown (Penn State)
- Round 3: K Jake Moody (Michigan)
- Round 3: TE Cameron Latu (Alabama)
- Round 5: CB Darrell Luter Jr. (South Alabama)
- Round 5: DE Robert Beal Jr. (Georgia)
- Round 6: LB Dee Winters (TCU)
- Round 7: TE Brayden Willis (Oklahoma)
- Round 7: WR Ronnie Bell (Michigan)
- Round 7: DB Jalen Graham (Purdue)
Brown flashed plenty of promise late his rookie season, going as far as to start in the Super Bowl. However, a second-year regression led to his late-season benching in 2024, and his future is very much in doubt.
Moody, meanwhile, has been the subject of all kinds of speculation in light of his second-half collapse following him being the highest-drafted specialist in 2023.
Latu, a reach, didn't make the 53-man roster in year two, while Bell's gaffes in 2024 led to him being dismissed, too. Graham, meanwhile, bounced off the 49ers roster and onto the Washington Commanders' practice squad before returning to the Niners late in 2024.
Luter and Beal remain fringe players for San Francisco, and their respective futures with the team are questionable, at best.
While Brown might bounce back, about the only promising piece remaining from the 2023 class is Winters, who might be the 49ers' best on-roster option to replace now-Denver Broncos star linebacker Dre Greenlaw after the latter left via free agency.
Even that, though, is a tall order.
Regardless, it's safe to say the lack of impact players selected in 2023 is haunting the Niners in several different ways, and they surely wish they could go back and have a do-over.
Hopefully, 2025 will make up for it.