2018 was good for a hot minute
Every year around draft time we like to look at the ghosts of drafts past with the San Francisco 49ers and reflect on the players allocated from the draft. We luckily have video of each draft thanks to YouTube poster and 49ers fan Marvin49. We’ll be looking at every year during the Kyle Shanahan era up to 2023. Today it’s 2018 (video linked).
Once this draft was in the books, you would look at this class thinking some big things were coming. The 49ers just came off a nice five-game winning streak to finish the season, compliments of one Jimmy Garoppolo who entered the starting lineup. With Jimmy G, the 49ers had their quarterback and an awful lot of good things to show in Kyle Shanahan’s turnaround of the the team.
So about this draft, how was it? Well, they got Fred Warner out of it. That’s really the only big one.
The 49ers started things burning the ninth pick on Mike McGlinchey, an offensive tackle out of Notre Dame. The biggest draft crush for many was McGlinchey’s Notre Dame teammate Quenton Nelson, but he went sixth to the Indianapolis Colts and there was no way he’d last until ninth.
McGlinchey’s run blocking made him climb charts as one of the better tackles in the league, but his pass blocking, while not horrible, paled in comparison to Trent Brown, the man McGlinchey replaced. After the McGlinchey selection, the 49ers traded Brown to the New England Patriots the following day. There was some thought McGlinchey would be the heir apparent to Joe Staley when the latter retired, but that was proven not the case as the 49ers traded for Trent Williams to fill that role.
Mike “McFlinchey” as some fans liked to call him, for the predictable false start penalty he’d get solidified on the right side of the line, and when he left in 2023 free agency, 49ers fans saw the hole needed to fill. One year later, right tackle is still a priority for the team. In fact, the position may have a hand in costing them the Super Bowl.
As we said, McGlinchey left in free agency and got paid by the Denver Broncos. A nice five-year $87.5 million contract the 49ers had no chance of matching. McGlinchey is good, but $87.5 million is good?
The second round was a gigantic whiff with Dante Pettis. While he showed small spurts of what the 49ers hoped he could become, Pettis was not the punt returner the 49ers were looking for, and his effort had some questions.
The 49ers wound up waiving him midway into his third season, and he was picked up by the New York Giants. The worst part was what the 49ers gave up to get him: a second-round pick (No. 59) and a third round pick (No. 74) that went to the Washington Commanders for their second (No. 44) and fifth rounders (No. 142).
The pick of the draft goes to Fred Warner, a linebacker out of BYU who took the job of Reuben Foster, the linebacker drafted in the first round the year before. Warner displayed enough promise to relay communication to the defense that the coaching staff gave him the green dot and made him spend his 2018 learning how to communicate then-defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s calls. A third-round pick has become the leader of the 49ers’ defense and is now considered one of the best, if not the best, linebackers in the league, both from durability and talent standpoint.
So, two out of three isn’t bad. Unfortunately, kind of goes “meh” from there. Cornerback Tarvarius Moore was drafted to convert to cornerback, but it didn’t quite pan out the way anyone wanted it to. He remains in the league, but he fell short of the 49ers’ expectations. R2-D2’s pick of DT Kentavius Street (yes, R2-D2, there was a Star Wars theme going on with this—a badly implemented Star Wars theme) spent his 2018 on IR due to a knee injury and served as just an OK backup.
Then there’s D.J. Reed, a massive blunder of a prospect. He was drafted by the 49ers, but waived two years later. The Seattle Seahawks swooped in to pick him up off waivers and Reed flourished in Pete Carroll’s system. Reed now plays with the New York Jets on a three-year $33 million contract. That’s one I bet the 49ers wish they could have held onto during their rookie deal. Reed is a strong CB2 with the Jets and one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL. Plus, he has return ability.
And the rest? Jullian Taylor had a strong training camp, but his rookie tendencies had Saleh telling people to pump the breaks. Safety Marcell Harris? Well beyond showing how hard he hits ball carriers, there’s not much to say about his career.
This ended with Richie James. Given where he was taken (pick 240, seventh round), James is similar to Brock Purdy in he may have been better than he should have been. While James would never have been a No. 1 wide receiver, he was a decent kick and punt returner when he was healthy. Unfortunately, it seemed like James would get injured every year for stretches, which made it hard to keep him. The 49ers waived him in 2021.
2018, a draft that looked good…for a hot minute. At least they got Warner.
As always, the DMCA biscuits are watching this thing in full force, so go here to watch the entire draft reaction.
Pick Breakdown
Round 1 – Pick 9 – Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame
Round 2 – Pick 44 – Dante Pettis, WR, Washington
Round 3 – Pick 70 – Fred Warner, LB, BYU
Round 3 – Pick 95 – Tarvarius Moore, S, Southern Miss
Round 4 – Pick 128 – Kentavius Street, DT, North Carolina State
Round 5 – Pick 142 – D.J. Reed, CB, Kansas State
Round 5 – Pick 184 – Marcell Harris, S, Florida
Round 7 – Pick 233 – Jullian Taylor, DT, Temple
Round 7 – Pick 240- Richie James, WR, Middle Tennessee
About the Author: Insidethe49
