Some consolation for the crummy 2018 season
Every year around draft time we like to look at the ghosts of drafts past with the San Francisco 49ers and reflect on the players allocated from the draft. 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 2023. Today it’s 2019 (video linked).
Into the 2018 season, the San Francisco 49ers were seen as media darlings. This quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo looked good in his limited starts. The team as a whole had a lot of likable personalities. Something was just there with this team and a playoff appearance wasn’t out of the question.
And three games in that something vanished as Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL against the Kansas City Chiefs. The 49ers quickly went back to losing games and the new question wasn’t the playoffs, it was if they could get the No. 1 pick and Nick Bosa.
Well, they didn’t. The Arizona Cardinals did. Which is even more strange considering the Cardinals got two of their three wins that season against the 49ers. This was also an Arizona Cardinals team coached by Steve Wilks. So even then he had a hand in the 49ers’ fortunes.
The Cardinals weren’t too thrilled with this record and sent Wilks packing after this blunder, replacing him with Kliff Kingsbury. As the offseason went on, it became more obvious that Nick Bosa might not be the first pick despite being the best player in the draft. Kingsbury wanted a different quarterback.
The resulting draft of Kyler Murray to the Cardinals kicked off one of the better drafts in 49ers history. Even though they were picking first, the Cardinals decided to move on from Josh Rosen after just his rookie season. They took Kyler Murray and Nick Bosa went to the 49ers. Bosa made his presence known, despite a potential high ankle sprain to start the season and quickly became one of the best defensive players in the league.
Following Bosa was a need for wide receiver. Being with the second-worst record gave Kyle Shanahan the second coaching duty of the NFL Senior Bowl. And when you watched, you saw something clicking with this South Carolina wide receiver, Deebo Samuel. Upon snagging him in the second round, the 49ers took a future focal point of their offense. Like Bosa, Samuel made a name for himself in his rookie season putting together speed and bruising running ability. His ball security was one thing concerning, but it has since improved.
The third pick was a break in the action. The 49ers grabbed a second wide receiver in Jalen Hurd. The pick itself made sense, but Hurd simply couldn’t stay healthy. In his rookie season, Hurd got blasted in the back and placed on injured reserve. A torn ACL the following year sent him to the same designation. In 2021 another injury sidelined him and the 49ers cut their losses. Hurd would never play a regular season snap with the team. Had he stayed healthy, Hurd very well could have been the Deebo backup. Alas, it was never meant to be.
The fourth round got us back to all stars. This is where a great hero emerged to build the town of Punterville. That hero is Mitch Wishnowsky. A punter with speed and the ability to flatten ball carriers who get a bit overconfident with his punts.
After Wishnowsky, the 49ers’ fifth round star for 2019 was Dre Greenlaw. An Arkansas linebacker, Greenlaw would pair with Fred Warner to create a linebacker tandem rivaling the likes of Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman. Greenlaw inserted himself into 49ers lore immediately via stopping Seattle from scoring at the end of the final regular season game, snapping a long losing streak of the 49ers in Seattle and also securing the first seed in the NFL playoffs. He also could have won the first game against Seattle way back in Week 10 (in San Francisco) by picking off Russel Wilson in the redzone. Unfortunately, half the 49ers were injured that day, including their kicker so they couldn’t take advantage in overtime.
And the rest? Kaden Smith came from Stanford, but didn’t even make it through the 2019 season before getting waived. Justin Skule filled in on the offensive line but really couldn’t capitalize on his opportunities and was released a few years later. Tim Harris didn’t see the field, going on injured reserve his rookie season and waived in 2020 as the roster cuts were made.
Yes, there were whiffs, but in this draft’s case, the 49ers also knocked four picks out of the park. All four of those picks have signed extensions with the team and still contribute to this day.
As always, the DMCA biscuits are watching this thing in full force, so go here to watch the entire draft reaction.
Pick Breakdown
Round 1 – Pick 2 – Nick Bosa, DE, Ohio State
Round 2 – Pick 36 – Deebo Samuel, WR, South Carolina
Round 3 – Pick 67 – Jalen Hurd, WR, Baylor
Round 4 – Pick 110- Mitch Wishnowsky, P, Utah
Round 5- Pick 148 – Dre Greenlaw- LB, Arkansas
Round 6 – Pick 176 – Kaden Smith, TE Stanford
Round 6 – Pick 183 – Justin Skule, OT, Vanderbilt
Round 6- Pick 198 – Tim Harris, CB, Virginia