San Francisco 49ers: 5 worst draft picks all-time

1. Jim Druckenmiller

For almost two decades, the San Francisco 49ers had some of the best quarterback play in the history of the NFL. The team went from the great Joe Montana to Steve Young and fans got to enjoy seeing their team win five Super Bowls and climb into the upper pantheon of professional sports franchises.

While Steve Young was still playing at the time, the 49ers were looking for his heir apparent, who could take over for Young just like he did for Montana. That’s why in 1997, the 49ers used the No. 26 pick in the draft on quarterback Jim Druckenmiller.

Druckenmiller was an absolute mountain of a man out of Virginia Tech. Standing at 6-foot-4 and weighing 241 pounds, Druckenmiller looked like he was going to be the next great quarterback because of his immense size and arm strengh. However, he was anything but that.

His immense size prevented him from being able to move and he couldn’t move out of the pocket when he needed to. He also struggled to pick up plays and read defenses, which led to very poor results on the field. He threw just one touchdown in his NFL career.

Even worse for the 49ers, former head coach Bill Walsh warned the team not to take him, but they did anyways and it turned out to be one of the worst picks in NFL history.

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