The 49ers are known for their potential Hall of Fame Day 3 draft picks, Fred Warner and George Kittle. But who are some draft picks flying under the radar?
The San Francisco 49ers are known for some infamous draft picks under general manager John Lynch. Passing on a certain quarterback in the 2017 NFL Draft will be impossible to live down. Trading up for another one in 2021 without a plan for that player looks worse as the years go by.
Still, we’re talking about a team that has been to the Super Bowl with Lynch and Kyle Shanahan calling the shots, more than some teams have made it to the playoffs in that span.
The free space for some organizations isn’t as easy as a franchise game-changer like Nick Bosa. The gems later on in the draft, from Fred Warner to George Kittle, help paint the picture of why the 49ers have been a perennial playoff team all these years.
Trading picks for Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams is a move you make every day of the week if the opportunity presents itself, but the Day 3 draft picks have more than kept this roster afloat through the years.
That brings us to today’s question of the day:
Who was the 49ers’ most underrated draft pick under John Lynch?
It’s tough to call a quarterback who has a chance to become one of the highest-paid players in league history this summer underrated. Still, Brock Purdy turned out to be a life jacket the size of the Pacific Ocean for this franchise in a few short seasons.
To this day, the 2022 team is the one that had the best path to a Super Bowl and was most likely to win it. That was thanks to, in large part, a rookie quarterback.
Some may feel conflicted about Dre Greenlaw after he hardly saw the field in 2024. But he was a fifth-round pick who proved to be the prototype linebacker to help unlock this defense and maximize Fred Warner. Greenlaw was incredible during his time with the Niners, especially in that 2022 season.
The question is tricky because take a player like Deommodore Lenoir, for example. He’s another fifth-round pick who was thrown into the fire as a rookie and never looked back. Lenoir parlayed the 49ers’ trust in him into a $92-million extension after proving to be one of the best nickel defenders in the NFL.
Can a player with a $92-million extension be underrated? There are options, and no wrong answers. Who would you pick and why? Scroll down to share your thoughts in the comments.