Relief for some Niners over who wasn’t drafted
NFL fans get excited about the draft.
And NFL players get nervous.
The draft supplies teams with a group of rookies that are certainly younger — and often cheaper and healthier — than many of the veteran players they could replace.
How quickly can a draft pick change another player’s fu- ture? Right tackle Trent Brown was traded the Patriots on Friday about 15 hours after the 49ers selected right tackle Mike McGlinchey with the No. 9 pick.
On the flip side, other 49ers felt more confident about staying in Santa Clara for another season after the draft ended Saturday afternoon.
The 49ers didn’t use one of their nine picks on an edge
rusher, interior offensive lineman or running back, despite varying degrees of need at each position.
It might take years to determine which teams were the biggest draft winners, but the veterans who were the biggest winners can be determined quickly.
Here are the 49ers who benefited the most from the draft:
Cassius Marsh: Fans might have been near tears after the 49ers didn’t address a screaming need by selecting an edge rusher.
And so was Marsh. Head coach Kyle Shanahan mentioned Marsh when explaining that, at some point in the draft, the 49ers simply didn’t think the available edge rushers were better than those on their roster: “You’ve got to be pretty good to beat out Marsh,” Shanahan said.
After Marsh saw the quote, he posted a message on social media saying “it almost brought tears” to his eyes after years of feeling unappreciated.
Marsh, a 2014 fourth-round pick of the Seahawks, can now appreciate this: In 2018, he’ll have his chance to play significant snaps after a 2017 season in which he was traded by Seattle and waived by the Patriots in an 80-day span.
After he was claimed off waivers, Marsh provided some pop to the 49ers’ pass rush. In six games, he had two sacks and two forced fumbles, and his performance earned him a two-year contract extension in February.
Marsh isn’t the only winner. The lack of a drafted rookie edge rusher will also provide more opportunities for two players who have yet to realize their daft-day potential: Jeremiah Attaochu (second round, 2014) and Eli Harold (third round, 2015).
Attaochu signed a one-year contract after he spent last year with the Chargers buried behind Pro Bowl defensive ends Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. Harold will be given a look as a pass rusher after spending last season as a strong-side linebacker who specialized in run support.
Joshua Garnett: The 49ers didn’t select another offensive lineman after grabbing McGlinchey.
And now Garnett has a strong chance to prove his makeover makes him a fit in Shanahan’s offense.
Last year Garnett had minor knee surgery in August, and the 49ers decided to put the 2016 first-round pick on season-ending injured reserve to reconfigure his 325-pound frame. Garnett now weighs about 300 pounds and is presumably more nimble, a requirement for offensive linemen in Shanahan’s outsidezone running scheme.
With left guard Laken Tomlinson likely to retain his starting role, Garnett figures to fight for the spot at right guard.
And perhaps optimism about the slimmed-down Garnett is the reason the 49ers haven’t created too much competition for him this offseason. After the 49ers didn’t retain starting right guard Brandon Fusco, they signed Jonathan Cooper, who had offseason knee surgery and is on the fifth team of his five-year career.
Cooper is a first-round pick, the No. 7 selection in 2013, but Garnett isn’t complaining: In the NFL, it’s better to compete with a veteran first-round pick selected by another team than an incoming rookie.
Joe Williams: The 49ers’ decision to not draft a running back indicates they still have hope for Williams, the last running back they’ve drafted.
A fourth-round pick in 2017, Williams was outplayed by undrafted rookie Matt Breida in training camp, had fumbling issues in preseason games and practices and was stashed on season-ending injured reserve with an ankle injury.
It was notable that Shanahan recently told reporters Williams needed to show more “urgency” this year since general manager John Lynch has already expressed concerns about Williams’ commitment. Last year, Lynch initially didn’t have Williams on his draft board because he left the team at Utah for the first four games of his senior season in 2016.
Besides Breida and Jerrick McKinnon, the 49ers don’t have a running back on the roster with more than six career carries.
That bodes well for Williams, who should be quite happy the 49ers broke a streak: Before last week, the 49ers had selected a running back in nine straight drafts.