The 49ers have a glaring need at the top of their wide receiver depth chart and question marks at that spot throughout the roster. With two first-round picks to work with in the 2020 draft and a deep wide receiver class to pick from, it appears San Francisco is primed to use one of those early picks on a pass catcher.
History indicates that may not be the best move for the club. They’ve selected eight wide receivers in the first round since 1962 with only limited success.
None of their first-round receivers have made the Pro Bowl since Jerry Rice, who was selected 35 years ago, and only one of them had a 1,000-yard season.
Drafts of yesteryear have no bearing on this iteration of the 49ers though, and they’re constructed in such a way that a receiver will have a chance to thrive on a Super Bowl-ready team.
Let’s look back at the eight other receivers the 49ers have drafted in the first round and rank them from worst to best.
8. AJ Jenkins, Illinois | Pick 31 | 2012
Jenkins is in the conversation as the worst first-round pick in NFL history. He played in three games for the 49ers and earned one target that he didn’t catch. San Francisco traded him to Kansas City the following offseason. This is the full-blown nightmare scenario for taking a receiver in the first round.
7. Rashaun Woods, Oklahoma State | Pick 31 | 2004
Woods only fared a little bit better than Jenkins as a wide receiver selected with the 31st pick. He also spent just one season in San Francisco, but managed to pull in seven catches for 160 yards and one touchdown before getting traded to the Chargers and flaming out in his second year. This is also a nightmare scenario.
6. Terry Beasley, Auburn | Pick 19 | 1972
NFL life didn’t start well for Beasley. He caught one pass for 20 yards in his rookie year. He bounced back with an okay second season where he had 17 catches for 253 yards and three touchdowns. He never found the end zone again as a pro and was out of the league after Year 3 even though he improved to 20 catches and 297 yards in that third season.
5. JJ Stokes, UCLA | Pick 10 | 1995
There weren’t a lot of boxes Stokes didn’t check as a wide receiver prospect, and he even had the benefit of lining up across from Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens through most of his career. He was a fine No. 2 receiver who averaged 41 catches, 517 yards and four touchdowns per year in eight seasons with San Francisco. Stokes certainly wasn’t a bad NFL player, but his career didn’t quite stack up to that of a top-10 pick.
4. Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech | Pick 10 | 2009
It’s difficult to measure Crabtree’s career with the 49ers. He slides in just ahead of Stokes despite less overall production and fewer years in a 49ers uniform. Where Crabtree stands out is that he looked the part of a No. 1 wide receiver during the height of the team’s success in the early 2010s. He posted 1,105 yards and nine touchdowns on 85 receptions for the 2012 club that went to the Super Bowl. A torn Achilles before the following year kept him from ever building on his breakout campaign. A fully healthy 2013 from Crabtree probably lands him a Pro Bowl nod.
3. Gene Washington, Stanford | Pick 16 | 1969
Washington came out on fire in his rookie season with 51 catches, 711 yards and three touchdowns. He earned an All-Pro nod and a Pro Bowl in his first year. He backed that up with another All-Pro season where he led the NFL with 1,100 receiving yards. Washington was an All-Pro again two seasons later with a league-high 12 touchdowns. He went to the Pro Bowl in each of his first four years to go along with his three All-Pro honors. Washington’s production stayed steady through his nine seasons with San Francisco despite the fact he never made another Pro Bowl. Steady production with that peak made him a top-three first-round WR in 49ers history.
2. Lance Alworth, Arkansas | Pick 8 | 1962
This is cheating a little bit since Alworth opted to join the AFL where the Raiders drafted him in the second round then traded him to the San Diego Chargers. Alworth went on to be one of the best receivers of all-time. He finished his career with 542 catches, 10,266 yards and 85 touchdowns. Alworth led the NFL in receptions, yards and touchdowns three times each, and led the league in at least one of those categories in five of his 11 seasons. He was a seven-time Pro Bowler, six-time All-Pro and a Hall of Famer. Having both Alworth and Jerry Rice among the team’s alumni would’ve been incredible.
1. Jerry Rice, Mississippi Valley State | Pick 16 | 1985
Duh.
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