The San Francisco 49ers have been 1 of the NFL’s greatest franchises since the early 1980s — even without a Super Bowl win in 32 years.
Just 5 years ago, they made a mistake that could have undone all of that.
Bleacher Report’s Joey Akeley put the 49ers’ pick of quarterback Trey Lance with the No. 3 overall pick in 2021 as the NFL’s No. 1 ‘Worst Draft Mistake’ of the last decade — and it wasn’t even close.
“This was the clear-cut answer for the No. 1 spot in these rankings,” Akeley wrote. “It has as much to do with the San Francisco 49ers’ process as the pick itself. The Niners wanted to move up from the 12th pick to take a quarterback, but they weren’t sure which one they wanted. Despite not knowing, they gave up first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 and a 2022 third-round pick to move up from No. 12 to No. 3 a month before the draft. The player whom they reportedly originally wanted, Mac Jones, ended up being available at No. 12. But at some point, head coach Kyle Shanahan decided he wanted Trey Lance instead of Jones.”
Lance, of course, started just 4 games in 2 years before he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a 4th-round pick and a quarterback the 49ers selected with the very last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft — current starter Brock Purdy — has become 1 of the NFL’s very best at his position.
Pick May Have Cost 49ers Multiple Super Bowl Wins
If you’re a 49ers fan, the next few paragraphs should come with a sort of warning. It’s gonna get ugly — you don’t need to be a football genius to understand how picking Lance and the accompanying moves may have cost the 49ers at least 1 Super Bowl win … or more.
Let’s start with that 2021 pick. Had the 49ers stayed put at No. 12 overall, they could have taken Penn State edge rusher Micah Parsons, who went to the Dallas Cowboys at that spot. That would have meant Parsons — a 4-time NFL All-Pro in his 1st 5 seasons — opposite edge rusher and 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa.
Just Wait, 49ers Fans … It Gets Worse
Then, there are the 2 1st-round picks the 49ers gave up in 2022 and 2023 to get Lance.
In 2022, the 49ers would have had the No. 29 overall pick — a pick the Miami Dolphins traded to the New England Patriots, who drafted offensive lineman Cole Strange. Which was a really bad pick.
The 49ers, had they stayed put and not traded up to get Lance, could have had any number of big-time players taken in the next round’s worth of picks — Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker (No. 41 overall), 2-time Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens (No. 51 overall), NFL All-Pro wide receiver George Pickens (No. 51 overall), and NFL All-Pro tight end Trey McBride (No. 55 overall) all jump off the page.
In 2023, the 49ers would have had the No. 29 overall pick again — a pick that ended up with the New Orleans Saints via a series of trades, with the Saints taking defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, who would have been a nice fit in San Francisco.
More future stars were available as well — the Detroit Lions had 2 picks in the next 20 selections and used them on NFL All-Pro tight end Sam LaPorta (No. 34 overall) and Pro Bowl safety Brian Branch (No. 45 overall).
San Francisco 49ers Blasted for NFL’s ‘Worst Draft Mistake’ in Last Decade