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PFF Says Jordan Elliott was the 49ers' Worst Signing of 2024

The 49ers had a great draft last year, but free agency didn't go so well.
Grant Cohn|
Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive tackles Sam Okuayinonu (left) and Jordan Elliott (92) talk during the first quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive tackles Sam Okuayinonu (left) and Jordan Elliott (92) talk during the first quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers had a great draft last year, but free agency didn't go so well.

They brought in lots of journeymen veterans who didn't make much of an impact. Their best signing according to Pro Football Focus was cornerback Isaac Yiadom who excelled against the run but struggled in coverage, which is unfortunate considering covering is a cornerback's no. 1 job.

The 49ers' worst signing according to PFF was defensive tackle Jordan Elliott.

"Elliott struggled in what could be his lone season in San Francisco, as he did during his four years in Cleveland," writes PFF analyst Dalton Wasserman. "His 47.6 overall grade is actually the second-highest of his career, but it certainly isn’t the mark of a starting-caliber player."

To be fair to Elliott, the 49ers didn't sign him to be a starter -- they signed him to back up Javon Hargrave, who tore his triceps in a Week 3 loss to the Rams. That's when the 49ers put Elliott into the starting lineup.

I would argue their worst signing was linebacker De'Vondre Campbell because the 49ers signed him to start until Dre Greenlaw returned from a torn Achilles tendon. Campbell was awful all season and then he quit midgame after getting benched for Greenlaw during his regular-season debut. Instead of Campbell, the 49ers could have signed someone good such as Bobby Wagner who was available.

This season, the 49ers have to sign at least one player in free agency who will improve their roster. They failed to do that a year ago.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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