INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 03: Iowa tight end George Kittle answers questions to members of the press during the NFL Scouting Combine on March 3, 2017 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
It’s that time again, when we look at the previous drafts of the San Francisco 49ers and reflect. We’re lucky to have video of each draft,
thanks to YouTube poster and 49ers fan Marvin49. We’ll look at every year of the Kyle Shanahan era through 2025. Today it’s 2017.
Wow. Nine years.
Nine years since Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch took over a franchise that was drifting somewhere between irrelevant and dysfunctional. Trent Baalke was out. Jed York handed Shanahan and Lynch six-year deals and essentially said, “Fix it.”
The 2017 draft was the first real swing of the new regime. It aged…weirdly. Which, as you may know, is the most 49ers thing we can say about a draft class.
Only one player from that class is still a true franchise pillar. But when you consider what the roster looked like when Shanahan walked in the door, even that feels like something.
Let’s start at the top.
The San Francisco 49ers picked second overall and immediately pulled off what remains one of the funniest draft-day trades of the modern era. They
fleeced the Chicago Bears, who moved up one spot to take quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. The 49ers stayed patient and took the guy they reportedly wanted all along: Stanford defensive lineman Solomon Thomas.
Thomas’s rookie season had some built-in excuses. Due to outdated league rules, he missed valuable practice time early. His first year felt rookie-ish. His second season was understandably derailed by the tragic suicide of his sister and the toll it took on his mental health.
Did he ever develop into a No. 2 overall impact player?
No.
Thomas tore his ACL in 2020, his final season with the 49ers. He’s carved out a respectable NFL career since. Respectable, meaning he still has a job as of this writing. He’s bouncing around as a rotational defensive lineman. In 2025, he played 16 games for the Dallas Cowboys, starting two, recording 27 total tackles and one pass defended — no sacks. He’s under contract in 2026, though none of it is guaranteed. He’s a veteran depth piece now.
A long NFL career is nothing to sneeze at. But second overall? That’s a different standard.
Then came the trade back into the first round with the Seattle Seahawks to select Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster.
At the time, it looked like a steal. Foster was considered one of the most talented defenders in the draft. Character flags from the Combine and injury concerns caused him to slide, and the 49ers pounced.
On the field, Foster flashed exactly what scouts saw: sideline-to-sideline speed, violent play, true difference-maker traits.
Off the field, it unraveled quickly.
By late 2018, multiple legal issues — including a domestic violence arrest — forced the 49ers to cut ties. Foster bounced around leagues. Yes, plural. As in the NFL, then the USFL, and finally the UFL. The most recent transaction was being claimed by the UFL’s Arlington Renegades in August 2024. There has been no NFL activity since. His career is now more cautionary tale than “what could have been.”
The third round brought cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon.
Witherspoon flashed late in his rookie season and briefly looked like a developmental win. But inconsistency became the theme of his career. When he got benched in the 2019 season during a playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, you knew it was over—even if he had a superb attitude. In 2025, he played six games for the Los Angeles Rams, starting one. He recorded two passes defended and no interceptions. He tore his shoulder blade in Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans, returned late in the season as reserve depth, then re-injured himself against the Carolina Panthers and was deactivated.
Another person with potential, and showing flashes of it after he left the 49ers, but hitting roadblocks.
Also in the third round: quarterback C.J. Beathard. Maybe the second most important pick of this draft, for the effect it would have in the future.
At the time, the reaction was predictable: “career backup.” He got starts. He got hit. He did what he could. Jimmy Garoppolo quickly took over.
This isn’t about his play on the 49ers, but what happened after he left. His departure netted the 49ers a compensatory pick: the final pick of the 2022 draft. That pick became Brock Purdy.
Beathard hasn’t started a game since 2023 and signed with the Detroit Lions’ practice squad in September 2025. His career has settled into veteran emergency depth territory. But indirectly? He’s part of the Purdy story.
The fourth round brought us Utah running back Joe Williams. Williams begins what is now known as the “pick used to take a running back.” Shanahan loved him. Shanahan insisted on him. The 49ers caved. Like many of these picks through the years, Williams didn’t do much. In fact, he never played a regular-season snap for the 49ers and has been out of football for years.
Now we bring the star of the show in the fifth round. A tight end out of Iowa named George Kittle.
You can say what you want about this draft class. My rebuttal remains the same: yeah, but they got Kittle.
Kittle became one of the best tight ends in football. A blocker. A pass catcher. An emotional tone-setter. He rewrote franchise record books and spent the better part of a decade in the top-five-at-his-position conversation.
In 2025,
he signed a contract extension in the offseason. He was injured in Week 1, returned to play 11 games, and still managed 57 receptions for 628 yards and seven touchdowns. His absence was felt, particularly in the run game. Then came the gut punch: a torn Achilles in the playoffs against the Philadelphia Eagles, contributing to a blowout loss that ended the season. That was the injury that broke the camel’s back of injuries through the 2025 season.
Still productive. Still important. But it’s officially fair to begin thinking about what life after Kittle eventually looks like — even if that future is a few years away.
Also in the fifth round, wide receiver Trent Taylor, who returned to the 49ers in April 2024, was released that August, then re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/futures deal in January 2025 but was placed on injured reserve in June and never activated, effectively ending his season. With Skyy Moore handling return duties in 2025 and now entering free agency, Taylor’s 2026 future remains uncertain.
The sixth round brought defensive tackle D.J. Jones, one of the quieter hits of the Lynch/Shanahan era.
Jones became a wrecking ball in the middle of the defensive line. He left in free agency for the Denver Broncos on a three-year deal with $20 million guaranteed — money
the 49ers were never realistically matching. He re-upped with Denver in March 2025 on another three-year extension and is under contract through 2027.
In 2025, he played 16 games (14 starts), recording 39 tackles, six tackles for loss, and three sacks. If only the 49ers had salary.
They found him. They developed him. They just couldn’t afford him. So they were penalized for drafting well. Imagine that.
Seventh-rounder Adrian Colbert joined the Chicago Bears in 2024, was released after the season, and has had no reported NFL activity since. He put a lot of good stuff on tape in his rookie season, but he just couldn’t get over that hump.
Then there’s Pita Taumoepenu, who also cycled out of the league without much impact.
So what is this draft, nine years later? I agree with whatever criticism you throw at it. I’ll also remind you it’s a “yeah, but” and point out the 49ers still got Kittle in this draft.
Pick Breakdown
Round 1 – Pick 2 – Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford
Round 1 – Pick 31 – Reuben Foster, LB, Alabama
Round 3 – Pick 66 – Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado
Round 3 – Pick 104 – C.J. Beathard, QB, Iowa
Round 4 – Pick 121 – Joe Williams, RB, Utah
Round 5 – Pick 146 – George Kittle, TE, Iowa
Round 5 – Pick 177 – Trent Taylor, WR, Louisiana Tech
Round 6 – Pick 198 – D.J. Jones, DT,
Ole Miss
Round 6 – Pick 202 – Pita Taumoepenu, DE, Utah
Round 7 – Pick 229 – Adrian Colbert, CB, Miami
