It's easy (and often fair) to criticize general manager John Lynch and the San Francisco 49ers for their multitude of failed picks in the NFL Draft, dating back to when he and head coach Kyle Shanahan took over the franchise back in 2017.
Every team has its share of whiffs and busts, and the Niners are no different. And for those who feel Lynch and Co. are somehow worse than most others, the fact there's a leaguewide sentiment about San Francisco frequently hitting on late-round picks should help change the narrative to a large degree.
But it won't fully erase many of the painful misses, though.
Perhaps the 49ers' more recent draft classes, including the controversial 2026 class, help ease criticisms of frequent gaffes. However, going back to 2017, there are certainly some picks that stand out as the worst of the worst.
Taking into account where each bad pick was taken, and how that player ultimately panned out with the Niners, here are the 10 worst of Lynch's tenure.
49ers' 10 worst draft picks under John Lynch
(Dis) honorable mention: DT Javon Kinlaw (No. 14 overall in 2020)
San Francisco controversly traded Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts and tried replacing him with Kinlaw, yet the latter struggled with injuries and inconsistency over his four-year 49ers tenure.
At least Kinlaw rounded out his original contract with the Niners, though and remains in the league.
No. 10: RB Joe Williams (No. 121 overall in 2017)
In fairness to Lynch, he originally didn't want to draft Williams during his inaugural draft, yet Shanahan ultimately changed the GM's mind.
Perhaps Lynch should have stuck with his gut, though, as the former Utah tailback spent his rookie season on injured reserve and was waived the following year, never having seen a single regular-season snap.
At least he was just a fourth-round pick.
Fate: Waived by 49ers in 2018, unsigned since.
No. 9: RB Trey Sermon (No. 88 overall in 2021)
Running backs may be a theme here, and reaches may be, too. The Niners were guilty of failing on both measures by grabbing Sermon in Round 3 of the 2021 draft after most tabbed him as a mid-Day 3 pick, at best, who struggled with decisiveness and precision cuts.
At least Sermon averaged just over 4 yards per carry on 167 rush yards during his lone season in San Francisco before being waived the following year, bouncing around the league ever since as a fringe player.
Fate: Waived by 49ers in 2022, has since played with Eagles, Colts and Steelers.
No. 8: DE Drake Jackson (No. 61 overall in 2022)
At the time, grabbing Jackson so late in Round 2 seemed like an absolute steal, even though he was questionably used at USC and failed to put up gaudy numbers before going pro.
True, there were flashes of brilliance, including a three-sack Week 1 season-opening performance in 2023, but injuries and a lack of conditioning ultimately brought on Jackson's downfall.
After spending all of 2024 on IR, the 49ers finally gave Jackson the boot and admitted the failure.
Fate: Waived by 49ers in 2025, appeared in 3 games with Commanders that year.
No. 7: WR Dante Pettis (No. 44 overall in 2018)
Toward the end of his rookie season, it appeared as if Pettis could be a bona fide star, as he finished his 2018 campaign with 467 yards and five touchdowns.
Those remain career-bests, though.
A year later, Shanahan declared Pettis wasn't guaranteed a role on the depth chart, and it was evidently clear the receiver was in the coach's doghouse by 2019's end, an inactive for the Niners' Super Bowl appearance.
By November of 2020, Pettis was off the team.
Fate: Waived by 49ers in November of 2020, has become a fringe journeyman ever since.
No. 6: RB Tyrion Davis-Price (No. 93 overall in 2022)
Sermon's failure likely convinced Shanahan and Lynch to burn yet another third-round pick on Davis-Price a year later, effectively confirming the former's fate but doing little to absolve the need for a true RB1 on the depth chart.
At least Davis-Price's flameout prompted San Francisco to trade for All-Pro Christian McCaffrey later in 2022, and that turned into a massive coup, even if it meant the former LSU rusher was an excess commodity.
Fate: Waived by 49ers after 1 game appearance in 2023, played in 1 game for Eagles and now remains unsigned.
No. 5: WR Jalen Hurd (No. 67 overall in 2019)
Hey, another third-round pick who flopped.
Hurd, a converted running back, seemed to carry all kinds of raw potential, and he even flashed a bit of that during his inaugural preseason. Yet that preseason performance ultimately resulted in a back injury that ultimately came to define his NFL career.
Sadly, a torn ACL the following summer meant his would-be recovery was stymied, and Hurd dealt with yet another knee injury in 2021 that led to the 49ers finally giving up on their investment.
Hurd never saw regular-season action, even after briefly joining the New England Patriots in 2023.
Fate: Hurd retired from football in 2023.
No. 4: DE Solomon Thomas (No. 3 overall in 2017)
There are a couple of truths that keep Thomas from being ranked any higher on Lynch's infamous list.
For one, the Niners traded down a spot in 2017 to grab him, and that deal ultimately resulted in them drafting All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner a year later, so that's a win. And two, despite his shortcomings, Thomas turned into a decent rotational run-stuffing player who managed to play a key depth role with San Francisco over the duration of his rookie contract.
The same certainly can't be said of anyone else on this list.
However, third-overall picks aren't just meant to be impact starters. They're meant to be cornerstone players, perennial Pro Bowlers and fan-favorites.
Unfortunately, it became clear early on Thomas would never materialize into said player.
Fate: Spent 4 years with 49ers before tenures with the Raiders, Jets and Cowboys.
No. 3: LB Reuben Foster (No. 31 overall in 2017)
While Thomas was widely viewed as one of the safest picks from the 2017 draft, Foster was seen as a true blue-chip prospect, albeit one with red flags and injury concerns. Yet when the 49ers traded back into Round 1 to grab the Alabama product at No. 31 overall, it was considered a steal.
Despite some injuries, the 2017 results seemed to promise that. Yet red flags became the storyline a year later, including multiple arrests and legal run-ins that ultimately led to him being waived in November of 2018.
Foster attempted a comeback with the Washington Commanders, but that amounted to nothing, and he subsequently tried his luck in the UFL thereafter.
Fate: Waived by 49ers after 16 games over 2 seasons, hasn't played an NFL game since.
No. 2: K Jake Moody (No. 99 overall in 2023)
There's an understandable reason why Moody ranks so high on this list: Don't draft specialists, especially on Day 2!
That alone might constitute a bad pick, but Moody's inconsistencies (especially in 2024) rivaled those of arguably the biggest kicking draft bust of all time, Roberto Aguayo of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The inconsistencies potentially caused San Francisco's second Super Bowl loss of the Lynch era, and there were certainly plenty of stressful moments among the fanbase whenever Moody came out for an extra point or field-goal try.
Given the boot by the 49ers after just one game in 2025 only added to just how bad this pick already was.
Don't draft kickers, especially that high.
Fate: Waived by 49ers early in Year 3, has played for Bears and Commanders since.
No. 1: QB Trey Lance (No. 3 overall in 2021)
Lance might qualify as one of the worst Niners draft picks and/or trades of all time, especially considering all Lynch gave up to land the No. 3 overall pick back in 2021—first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, plus an additional third-rounder.
He certainly classifies as Lynch and Shanahan's worst, though.
At the time, San Francisco was aiming to bring the promising-but-raw North Dakota State prospect along, having Lance back up then-starter, Jimmy Garoppolo, in 2021 before transitioning to a full-time role a year later. But Lance suffered a broken ankle two games into his sophomore season, which forced the 49ers to pivot back to Garoppolo before discovering their final pick from the 2022 draft, Brock Purdy, actually had some promise.
Purdy's ascent ultimately led to the Niners trading Lance entering year three, which at least salvaged the pick to a very minor extent.
It's still awful in memory, though.
Fate: Traded by 49ers after 2 years, subsequent tenures with both the Cowboys and Chargers.
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