That time again to look back at the last few drafts the 49ers have had. This was the first for Kyle Shanahan.
It’s that time again where we look at the previous drafts of the San Francisco 49ers and reflect. We luckily have video of each draft thanks to YouTube poster and 49ers fan Marvin49. We’ll be looking at every year during the Kyle Shanahan era up to 2024. Today it’s 2017.
Wow. It’s hard to decide what’s more fascinating, how seven years have gone by and Kyle Shanahan still coaches the 49ers. Yes, only one player from this draft remains on the team, but that’s certainly saying something when you consider the longevity of the regime before Kyle Shanahan in John Lynch.
You know the story by now: Trent Baalke was removed, and then Jed York signed John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan to six-year deals. It was going to take a while to fix this mess.
Things were different right at the start of the draft; The 49ers picked second but engineered a fleecing of a deal with the Chicago Bears, letting them move up a single spot to draft quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. The 49ers grabbed the guy they were always interested in any way, Stanford defensive lineman Solomon Thomas. Due to some outdated rules, Thomas got to practice late and that began what would be a lackluster campaign, while his first season was rookie-ish, or could be written that way, he never could progress. His second season was derailed due to the (more important) matter of his sister’s suicide and his own mental health.
Did it ever get better? No, not exactly. Thomas was unable to develop into the person someone of his draft positioning would be and tore his ACL two games into the 2020 season, his final with the team. Thomas has been playing on the New York Jets, signing a number of one-year deals. He’s got a career, but it wasn’t anything near where he was drafted.
The 49ers then traded back into the first round via a deal with the Seattle Seahawks, drafting Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster. At the time, this looked awesome.
Foster was unanimously considered a special player, but an incident at the NFL Combine that got him sent home, as well as other character and injury questions, allowed him to slip. Despite that, he was still considered one of the better defensive players in the draft.
Unfortunately, those character concerns erupted in 2018, culminating in a domestic violence arrest that forced the 49ers’ hand. Foster was released from the team in late November as the organization quite frankly had enough. Foster bounced in and out of the league and now plays in the UFL. F
From there, the 49ers drafted Ahkello Witherspoon. A cornerback prospect some may have scratched their head over, but Witherspoon came into his own late in the season and made a roster spot for himself in early 2018. Some inconsistent play that same year put his spot in jeopardy and it became clear Witherspoon was not the answer. Witherspoon would later sign with the Seahawks and then that same year get traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Recently, Witherspoon has been making some plays on rival Los Angeles Raiders. His clutch interception over the Cardinals has been something talked about for extensive periods of time.
Also in the third round came Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard. A questionable pick, Beathard’s selection had everyone labeling him as a “career backup” before he threw a single training camp pass. Beathard got his shot during the season until getting injured, and recently acquired quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo made his case as the long-term starter.
The thing is, Beathard may have been the most important pick of this draft in hindsight. The reason is when he left the 49ers the 49ers got a compensatory pick: the last pick in the 2022 draft. That pick became Brock Purdy.
And the rest? Utah running back Joe Williams was a gut-pick that should have never been called, as he only lasted until after the 2018 preseason. Fifth-round pick Trent Taylor was a go-to third-down wide receiver and a decent punt returner, but the 49ers were in no rush to bring him back when his contract ended. Taylor went to the Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears before returning to the 49ers in 2024 in a largely practice squad role.
Adrian Colbert, a seventh-round cornerback, was thought to be the 49ers’ answer for safety until he got injured early in the 2018 season as well. Most of the players in this draft showed so much potential in their rookie year, and all that potential went by the wayside within a year later.
That is, of course, if you aren’t talking about tight end George Kittle. A fifth-round draft choice who is considered one of the best in the league, both blocking and pass-catching. Kittle almost broke Shannon Sharpe’s record for receiving yards by a tight end in a single game and broke Rob Gronkowski’s record for most receiving yards by a tight end in a season. Is Kittle still the best in the league? That’s up to you, but he’s definitely elite and in the top five.
Say what you want about this draft. My rebuttal: yeah, but they got Kittle.
There is one other gem, and that’s defensive tackle D.J. Jones. Jones was taken in the sixth round, but like Kittle in the fifth, he sure didn’t play like it. Jones quickly made his presence known as a wrecking ball on the line, and it was clear the 49ers weren’t going to be able to afford him. He finished up a large deal with the Denver Broncos, and is an unrestricted free agent for 2025. Perhaps the 49ers can use the return of Robert Saleh to entice Jones to return.
As per usual, the DMCA biscuits have this thing on lockdown in some regions so I’m not even going to try to post it here. You can go to YouTube directly to see it. Or you can go here via this link to see the analysis of the draft.
Pick Breakdown
Round 1 – Pick 2 – Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford
Round 1 – Pick 31 – Reuben Foster, LB, Alabama
Round 3 – Pick 66 – Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado
Round 3 – Pick 104 – C.J. Beathard, QB, Iowa
Round 4 – Pick 121 – Joe Williams, RB, Utah
Round 5 – Pick 146 – George Kittle, TE, Iowa
Round 5 – Pick 177 – Trent Taylor, WR, Louisiana Tech
Round 6 – Pick 198 – D.J. Jones, DT, Ole Miss
Round 6 – Pick 202- Pita Taumoepenu, DE, Utah
Round 7 – Pick 229 – Adrian Colbert, CB, Miami