Ranking 49ers' 5 best moves from 2023 NFL offseason
By Peter Panacy
49ers best offseason move No. 3: Not using a Round 3 draft pick on a running back
Alright, so the Niners' three selections in Round 3 of this year's NFL Draft will continue carrying some slack.
Particularly the one where San Francisco grabbed Jake Moody at No. 99 overall, making him the first specialist off the draft board.
That might make a list of head-scratching offseason moves by the 49ers, but at least they didn't use a third-round pick on a running back for the third year in a row. Remember, they tried this in 2021 and 2022 with Trey Sermon and Tyrion Davis-Price, respectively, and the former was off the roster after one season while the latter is in danger of following suit entering 2023.
Shanahan even joked about this with regard to selecting Moody:
Kyle Shanahan to Jake Moody:
— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) April 29, 2023
“You gotta know how much we like ya, we didn’t take a running back and took a kicker in the third round.”
LOL pic.twitter.com/tzhiDyTDqt
Last year's midseason pickup of All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey negated the need to grab another rusher in Round 3 this year, but there was that line of thinking about how the Niners could possibly do it again.
Until they didn't, and that's a win.