The San Francisco 49ers are an anomaly of drafting.
The same organization that will make one of the worst picks in NFL history by trading up for Trey Lance and light third-round picks on fire with third-string running backs, backup tight ends, and ineffective kickers will also find some of the best players in the league with some of their later dart throws.
In just the Kyle Shanahan era, the Niners found perhaps the best linebacker in the league in Fred Warner as a third-round pick, brought in one of the best tight ends in NFL history with a fifth-round choice in George Kittle, and waited until the No. 262 pick (which most drafts don't even have) to select a franchise quarterback in Brock Purdy.
Pro Football Focus ranked Purdy as the most valuable non-first-round selection since 2016. The 49ers were the only team to get multiple picks in the top 10, and they managed to secure three of the top seven. Kittle, picked 146th in 2017, and Warner, picked 70th in 2018, managed to rank at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively.
Brock Purdy leads 3 49ers ranked in Top 10 best non-Round 1 picks since 2016
What makes Warner an amazing pick is the fact the third round has been a major pain point for San Francisco over the last few years. Tyrion Davis-Price, Jake Moody, Cameron Latu, and others have not only underperformed, but they've washed out of the league almost immediately. Warner is an All-Pro with regularity and on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
Kittle was always viewed as a solid receiving tight end, but there some questions about how his all-around game and middling production would translate. Based on how a career that should end with him eventually ending up in Canton, Kittle stands out as one of the best tight end draft picks in history.
Purdy, however, is the crown jewel of this collection.
Finding a franchise quarterback in the second round is difficult, let alone in the seventh. Finding one who came inch shy of a Super Bowl victory in his first season as a starter and has since smashed the doubts about being a Shanahan merchant with what is essentially a UDFA dart throw is almost unheard of.
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