San Francisco 49ers: A look back at the 2017 draft class

The San Francisco 49ers should have nine options in the 2021 NFL draft and will try to address a few positions of need. The only thing we know is that Niners will select a QB with the third overall selection, but we don’t know what the signal will be.

San Francisco initially helped pick No. 12 in the first round, but struck a successful deal with the Miami Dolphins to climb nine places. Once they have chosen their QB, the 49ers will have to focus on connecting the holes in the secondary and could use some depth on both the offensive and defensive lines and the backbacker.

The 2021 project will be the fifth under general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan. The pair were hired before the 2017 season and did a good job finding bona fide NFL talent in the later rounds.

Lynch and Shanahan also had some failures. The two choices from the first round they made in 2017 are no longer with the team. Only two players remain in the organization from the 2017 draft.

Here’s a look back at the first sketch under Lynch and Shanahan’s watch.

Draft 2017 NFL:

Round 1, choose 3: DL Solomon Thomas
Round 1, choose 31: LB Reuben Foster
Round 3, choose 66: CB Ahkello Witherspoon
Round 3, choose 104: QB CJ Beathard
Round 4, pick 121: RB Joe Williams
Round 5, choose 146: TE George Kittle
Round 5, choose 177: WR Trent Taylor
Round 6, choose 198: DL DJ Jones
Round 6, choose 202: LB / DL Peter Taumoepenu
Round 7, choose 229: S Adrian Colbert

Kittle was obviously a choice for the organization. The tight end is one of the best overall players in the game and it looks like he will spend at least a decade with the franchise. Not bad for a fifth-round pick.

The 27-year-old has 264 receptions for 3,579 meters and 14 touchdowns. But its impact goes beyond catching passes. Kittle’s blocking ability makes him so valuable to the 49ers’ running game. He is also one of the team leaders and, in all respects, is loved by his teammates.

The 2019 campaign was the best in Kittle’s career. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall rating of 95.0 and was named the winner of the Stephenson Award, which the PFF awards to the best general football player. Kittle has signed a five-year deal worth up to $ 75 million before the 2020 season, which should keep him in the Bay Area until 2025.

Defensive DJ Jones turned in a dismal performance, however. He started 25 games in the last two seasons, had 70 career approaches. Jones was an underrated part of the defense and will continue to have the opportunity to make a dent in 2021. The 49ers re-signed him to a one-year deal.

Lynch managed to win three more options from the Chicago Bears to change places from No. 2 to No. 3. It was no secret that the Niners were interested in Thomas reaching the draft, where they ended up selecting the Stanford product. . Thomas has never been fully comfortable with San Francisco.

It was used in different places along the line and did not have the production expected from a third general selection. Thomas played in 48 games and accumulated 95 tackles (16 for a loss), 23 QB shots and 6 sacks during the four seasons with the 49ers. He faced personal tragedy after the death of his younger sister, which he acknowledged prevented him from performing on the field. The team did not pick up its option for the fifth year and let it go to the free agency this season.

Foster was another precarious selection. No one could argue with his field production. He won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top defender during his senior season and was the best backbacker available from the inside, according to several project experts.

But off-field concerns with Foster were a major red flag that led to the project. First, he was sent home from the combine after arguing with a student working in health care while receiving treatment. Following this incident, it was revealed that Foster had a diluted urine sample, which led to a positive positive drug test. However, he was considered one of the best backbackers available in the draft.

The incidents scared other teams in the NFL, and Foster fell in the draft table as a result. He was still available with only two picks left in the opening round, so Lynch jumped at the chance and sent the second and fourth round picks to the Seattle Seahawks to pick up and pick Foster. Lynch was thrilled to get Foster, who he says is one of the top three San Francisco players in the draft.

“I can tell you right away that what we had on board was just under 200 players, and in terms of how we rated them, we got two of our top three players,” he told Nick. ESPN.com Wagoner. . “We were able to do that and we are delighted. We are ecstatic. We think these guys have a lot of traits of what we want to be as a football organization. ”

After suffering an ankle injury in week 1, Foster missed five games, but returned with some impressive performances. He was excellent in his rookie season, played in 10 games and finished with 72 attacks, 5 hits in QB and received an overall score of 90.7 by PFF, the second highest of all beginners.

49ers’s players now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. He missed the first two games of the season after being suspended due to gun and drug charges he faced off-season. He was then arrested on charges of domestic violence following a week-long loss that led to his release from the team. Foster was taken over by the Washington football team, but suffered a serious knee injury in May 2019 and did not play in another game of the regular season.

Both Niners third-round picks stayed with the team for four years before hitting the free agency this season. Witherspoon had all the physical tools to be a successful NFL corner, but he couldn’t find consistency on the field. He started nine games as a novice and had some beautiful moments. Witherspoon finished with 32 tackles, seven assists and two assists in his first year and received an overall score of 74.5 by PFF.

Witherspoon was one of the starting turns of the 49ers in 2018, along with veteran All-Pro Richard Sherman. He played in 14 games and dropped 55.1 percent from opposing QBs before injuring his knee in Week 15.

In the winning NFC team in 2019, Witherspoon disagreed with the coaching team and was replaced by Emannuel Moseley as the starting corner. Witherspoon was pulled out of the Minnesota Viking Division Division victory after being burned for a touchdown by Stefon Diggs. He hasn’t played a moment in the last two games of the postseason.

Witherspoon returned to the field in 2020 only after the injuries devastated the San Francisco high school. He played well in the last four weeks of the season, but the Niners let him go to the free agency, where he signed a deal with the Seahawks.

The 49ers rose to take Beathard in the third round, and although he started five games for the team in his debut season, his limitations were obvious. He started five more games in 2018, after Jimmy Garoppolo was injured, but was removed from the group in favor of UDFA Nick Mullens. Beathard was tough in his pocket, but he didn’t have the arm strength or processing speed to be a reliable QB. He started in winning Week 16 against the Arizona Cardinals last season, which was a nice draw after his brother was killed in an incident in front of a bar in Nashville in December 2019. Beathard signed a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars during the season.

Taylor and Colbert had their moments for the Niners. Taylor seemed to be on the verge of becoming a weak and good slot receiver, after getting some solid numbers in his first two seasons. Unfortunately, Taylor suffered a Jones fracture that kept him out for the entire 2019 campaign, after requiring five additional procedures to correct the problem. He did not look the same in the limited time of the game in 2020 and remains a free agent.

Colbert had a debut year in 2017. He started six games and appeared in a total of 14, accumulating 37 approaches and five defended passes. Colbert started the free safety team in 2018, but took a step back in its development.

Colbert gave up 20.4 yards on completion, and opposing defenders had a rating of 132.4 when aiming for coverage on the Pro Football Reference. He suffered an ankle sprain in week 7 of the 2018 season and has never played in another game for the 49ers.

Taumoepenu and Williams have never won traction with the Niners and both are not currently on the NFL roster. Williams was a Shanahan guy, and foundation coach Bobby Turner targeted her, but he never played an NFL game for San Francisco.

The 2017 project was not a strong one for Lynch and Shanahan, but getting a talent like Kittle and a solid collaborator like Jones makes it a little more enjoyable.