Ranking 49ers Five Worst Draft Picks in Last Decade
Winning NFL culture is mostly built from the ground up. Teams can expedite their rebuilding effort with home-run draft picks. They can also delay the process by flat out missing on certain players.
For every late-round successful pick like George Kittle and NaVorro Bowman, there’s an early bust like A.J. Jenkins or Josh Garnett that brings teams back to reality.
Although this list definitely extends far beyond five players, here are the 49ers five worst draft picks in the last decade.
5. Joe Williams: 2017 Fourth Round — Running Back
It came as no shock that the 49ers took a running back in the 2017 draft. Then-starting running back Carlos Hyde was in the last year of his contract and didn’t fit the team’s long term plans. What did surprise some, was whom first-year head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch picked. In the fourth round, 121st overall, the 49ers nabbed Utah running back Joe Williams.
In his two years on the field at Utah, Williams logged 1,884 yards and 13 touchdowns in 19 games. He battled through some issues in college, but nonetheless, Shanahan was quite enamored with his big-play potential. That excitement quickly turned sour as Williams was placed on Injured Reserve and was inactive for his entire rookie campaign. He was released the following training camp and has yet to record regular season action.
What made things worse was that San Francisco actually traded up with Indianapolis to get him, relinquishing a fourth (143rd overall) and fifth (163rd overall) pick to do so. Those picks wound up being running back Marlon Mack (40 games, 2,357 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns) and linebacker Anthony Walker (41 games, two interceptions and 251 tackles).
Other running backs besides Mack that the 49ers could have drafted were Jamaal Williams (Green Bay, 134th overall), Aaron Jones (Green Bay, 182nd overall), Chris Carson (Seattle, 249 overall) and Matt Breida (undrafted).
4. Taylor Mays: 2010 Second Round — Safety
The 2010 draft could be the best safeties draft of this century. Eric Berry (Kansas City, fifth overall), Earl Thomas (Seattle, 14th overall), Devin McCourty (New England, 27th overall, drafted as a corner), T.J. Ward (Cleveland, 38th overall), Morgan Burnett (Green Bay, 71st overall), Kam Chancellor (Seattle, 133rd overall), Reshad Jones (Miami, 163rd overall) and Kurt Coleman (Philadelphia, 244th overall) were all members of the class.
Behind Berry and Thomas, however, there was quite a bit of drop-off in projected talent. The 49ers, then in a revolving door of need for defensive backs, picked a safety of their own, but he did not work out like the names above.
USC safety Taylor Mays was picked 49th overall and immediately joined Reggie Smith (stiff competition) in a battle for the spot alongside Dashon Goldson. Mays made six starts in his rookie campaign, forcing a fumble and making 38 tackles, but that would be all he did in a 49er uniform.
Following the disappointing 2010 season, the 49ers fired head coach Mike Singletary and brought in Jim Harbaugh and Vic Fangio. They opted to trade Mays to Cincinnati and sign veteran safety Donte Whitner to a big deal. While Whitner was a Pro Bowler and leader on an NFC Champion defense, Mays made just nine more starts over the next five seasons (the last with Oakland) and never intercepted a pass.
3. Josh Garnett: 2016 First Round — Guard
San Francisco’s 2016 draft had two strong picks in defensive linemen DeForrest Buckner (seventh overall) and Ronald Blair III (142nd overall). The rest of the draft was quite bad, especially for the offensive line.
The 49ers picked three offensive linemen, none of which made it to last season. John Theus and Fahn Cooper were both picked in the fifth-round, but only Theus took the field (one start in four games).
Yet, it’s understandable to miss on late-round picks. What was much more crippling to the team’s development was their miss four rounds earlier, when they traded up to grab Stanford offensive guard Josh Garnett at pick 28. Not shockingly, guard is still a question mark for San Francisco. Garnett could never stay healthy and was quite underwhelming when he did take the field.
Some interior linemen picked after Garnett that have put forth better NFL careers include Nick Martin (Houston, 50th overall), Cody Whitehair (Chicago, 56th overall), Joe Thuney (New England, 78th overall) and Graham Glasgow (Detroit, 95th overall).
To add further insult to injury, look at what then-head coach Chip Kelly gave up. The 49ers traded three picks, including the 37th overall, to the Chiefs in order to get Garnett. Kansas City then used that pick on Chris Jones, the defensive lineman that wreaked havoc on the 49ers in the Super Bowl. That stings.
2. Reuben Foster: 2017 First Round — Linebacker
The 49ers’ 2017 first round was quite awful. They took Solomon Thomas third overall and it’s safe to say he has not lived up to that spot. Yet, despite Thomas’ struggles, he is nowhere near the biggest miss that draft. At least he is still on the team and made some contributions over the past few years as a reserve lineman.
The 49ers’ other first round pick, one they traded up to get, was linebacker Reuben Foster. The Alabama product came with plenty of red flags. Outside of his shoulder problems, Foster was sent home from the combine after a fight with medical personnel.
None of this scared the 49ers, who moved up to get the talented, yet troubled linebacker. His first season was cut short with injuries, but he managed to make 72 tackles in 10 starts.
In his second season, his 25.6 missed tackle percentage after six games was increasingly worrisome, but the potential remained. Things took a drastic turn for the worse when Foster was arrested for the third time. He was released midseason and claimed by Washington, but has yet to play a game for them due to a torn ACL.
Although no linebackers available at 31 were quite worth a first-round pick, some available were Raekwon McMillan (Miami, 54th overall), Zach Cunningham (Houston, 57th overall) Kendall Beckwith (Tampa Bay, 107th overall), Jayon Brown (Tennessee, 155th overall) and Matt Milano (Buffalo, 163rd overall).
1. A.J. Jenkins: 2012 First Round — Wide Receiver
The 2012 draft was easily the worst of the decade by the franchise. Only fourth-round pick center Joe Looney remains in the NFL, and he has been mostly a backup throughout his career. It’s only right that this abysmal draft was highlighted by the worst draft pick of that span as well.
In need of a speedy wide receiver to stretch the field (this has been the 49ers’ top need for at least 20 years) opposite Michael Crabtree, the 49ers nabbed receiver A.J. Jenkins out of Illinois at 30th overall.
The only thing Jenkins did quickly in San Francisco was find a way off the team. He was absolutely lost his rookie year, playing just three games (one target, zero catches). After his bench-warming first season, Jenkins was flipped to Kansas City for fellow first-round receiver bust, Jonathan Baldwin. Two years later, Jenkins was out of the NFL, totaling 223 yards on 17 catches.
Some receivers picked after Jenkins that would have worked out better include Alshon Jeffery (Chicago, 45th overall), Mohamed Sanu (Cincinnati, 83rd overall), T.Y. Hilton (Indianapolis, 92nd overall), newly-signed 49er Travis Benjamin (Cleveland, 100th overall), and Marvin Jones (Cincinnati, 166th overall).
