No. 3 | 1994 draft
Pick 7: DL Bryant Young
Pick 28: RB William Floyd
Of all the players on the list so far, Young had the best career by a relatively wide margin. The No. 7 overall pick out of Notre Dame won a Super Bowl as a rookie, then went on to play for 14 seasons with four Pro Bowls, a First-Team All-Pro selection, and 89.5 sacks as an interior defensive lineman. Young could wind up in Canton and was a finalist for the Hall of Fame in 2020. That’s the kind of career a team shoots for with a top-10 pick.
Floyd was less successful than Young, although he had an okay four-year career with the 49ers. He played fullback for four seasons and contributed 959 rushing yards, 1,011 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns in 48 games. It’s a sign of how football has changed that a player primarily tabbed to play fullback was selected in the first round.
Finding a potential Hall of Famer and a four-year contributor isn’t a bad first-round haul, although a better 49ers tenure from Floyd could’ve pushed this duo into the top two.