The 49ers walked out of Sunday night’s Week 2 loss to the Packers with spotlights shining on a number of weaknesses they’ll need to shore up if they’re going to put themselves in the Super Bowl conversation. To figure out the source of some of their problems we need to rewind the clock to the 2021 NFL draft where a slew of decisions have rendered this year’s draft class relatively ineffective.
San Francisco made three picks in the top 100 (all offensive players) and through three games they’ve played a combined 48 offensive snaps. Their first five selections have managed to get on the field for just 47 snaps, including two who haven’t played at all and another who was a healthy scratch in Weeks 2 and 3. That’s not good for a club with depth issues at multiple spots.
This is not to say the draft was a failure. Making that declaration after three weeks would be silly. By 2023 this might be a terrific class for the 49ers. However, it’s worth taking a look at some of their maneuvers and selections through the lens of how those decisions could’ve helped San Francisco going into Week 4 of the 2021 campaign.
Let’s take a look back at some of the 49ers’ moves and connect them to the present issues standing between them and getting their sixth Lombardi Trophy this season: