Every April, NFL teams hold a seven-round draft to strengthen their rosters with college players. For the San Francisco 49ers, much of their recent success has come from homegrown stars like tight end George Kittle, linebacker Fred Warner, and defensive end Nick Bosa. The front office has also supplemented that core with trades and free-agent signings, offsetting occasional draft misses. But not every selection lives up to expectations. For every Kittle or Warner, there’s a high draft investment that failed to deliver. With Jake Moody’s release providing the latest reminder, here are three of the biggest recent 49ers draft busts.
San Francisco’s Biggest Draft Busts of the Last Few Years
1) Jake Moody, Kicker
With their third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the 49ers selected Moody, hoping that the University of Michigan product could take over the team’s placekicking job from longtime kicker Robbie Gould. Moody excelled in college, winning the Lou Groza Award in 2021 and earning Big Ten Kicker of the Year honors in 2021 and 2022.
Moody’s NFL struggles
Most NFL teams wait to draft even the best college kickers until the sixth or seventh round—if at all. The 49ers made Moody only the second kicker since 2016 selected within the first 100 picks. Given the team’s other needs, fans and experts questioned the pick, which now looks like a costly gamble. Moody’s inconsistency led the team to end the experiment two days after their first game this season. He finished his 49ers career with 46 field goals made out of 62 attempts, a 74.2 percent success rate on field goals, which simply is not good enough for a team trying to win the Super Bowl. The 49ers have since signed another kicker and are unlikely to draft one as high in the draft in the near future.
2) Trey Lance, Quarterback
The 2021 draft is not one that the 49ers will look back on fondly. That year, General Manager John Lynch traded with the Miami Dolphins to move up from the No. 12 pick to the No. 3 pick, which he used to select Lance out of North Dakota State University.
Lance starred in college, leading North Dakota State to FCS titles in 2018 and 2019. However, the step up in competition and a string of injuries derailed his development. He is now serving as the Los Angeles Chargers’ backup quarterback. The 49ers must feel incredibly lucky that quarterback Brock Purdy, the final NFL Draft pick in 2022, panned out.
3) Javon Kinlaw, Defensive Tackle
Kinlaw, the 49ers’ 2020 first-round pick out of South Carolina, failed to live up to expectations after the team selected him No. 14 overall. Persistent knee injuries kept him from earning consistent playing time or establishing himself as a core piece of the team’s future.
In four seasons with San Francisco, Kinlaw accumulated 70 tackles and returned one interception for a touchdown. Having signed with the Washington Commanders in free agency this past offseason, Kinlaw hopes to shed the bust label on his new team.
The 49ers have drafted and developed enough stars to stay in the Super Bowl hunt, but these draft busts at premium positions have slowed their ability to build a consistent contender. With their championship window still open, nailing future drafts will be critical.
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