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When revisiting the 2019 NFL draft, it's impossible to ignore the incredible class of rookies the San Francisco 49ers came away with. Starting with Nick Bosa, this was one of the team's strongest draft classes in recent memory.
The 2019 draft had a lot of talented players in it. In the first round alone, these stars were picked:
- Kyler Murray
- Devin White
- Josh Allen (linebacker)
- T.J. Hockenson
- Brian Burns
- Jeffery Simmons
- Josh Jacobs
There were also a ton of value picks in the other rounds, which the 49ers took advantage of. Just take a look at who they ended up with:
- Nick Bosa, 2nd overall
- Deebo Samuel, 36th overall
- Jalen Hurd, 67th overall
- Mitch Wishnowsky, 110th overall
- Dre Greenlaw, 148th overall
- Kaden Smith, 176th overall
- Justin Skule, 183rd overall
- Tim Harris, 198th overall
Obviously, Nick Bosa is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and an incredible player. That was the perfect pick for them as he might be the best overall player from this class.
Deebo Samuel is an All-Pro and one of the most unique offensive weapons in the NFL. He deserved to be a high first-round pick, and the 49ers got him in the second round.
Taking a punter in the fourth round is a bit bold, but the 49ers landed Mitch Wishnowsky there and he's still their punter to this day. Maybe there were better players available there, but it's hard to detract from them for taking a player still starting for them four years later.
Dre Greenlaw has been an instrumental member of their defense since 2019 and figures to be a long-term 49er. For a fifth-round pick, it truly doesn't get much better.
While they could have taken someone like Scotty Miller, Travis Homer or Myles Gaskin instead of Tim Harris and Justin Skule, the rest of the draft provides a ton of value.
The top two picks alone are enough to consider this an exceptional draft class. Two All-Pros in two picks is astounding work by John Lynch, who was named Executive of the Year for his work in the 2019 NFL draft. The 49ers went 13-3 that year.
Did the San Francisco 49ers have the best 2019 NFL Draft class?
In terms of a draft class as a whole, it's tough to imagine a team having a better run of picks than the 49ers. They didn't hit on every single one because that's nearly impossible to do, but they really nailed this draft and it's still paying dividends today.
Most other teams didn't have nearly as many hits. While the Arizona Cardinals got Kyler Murray, they took Byron Murphy over Deebo Samuel, they also took Andy Isabella two picks ahead of D.K. Metcalf.
The Carolina Panthers got an absolute stud in Brian Burns, but they made missteps, too. They took Greg Little over A.J. Brown.
They also took Will Grier over C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Christian Miller over Tony Pollard.
Though he's not with the team, picking T.J. Hockenson in the first round proved to be a genius move for the Detroit Lions, but they too made big mistakes. Jahlani Taval over A.J. Brown in the second round is one.
The Tennessee Titans nailed their second-round pick in A.J. Brown and their first with Jeffery Simmons, but then they took Nate Davis over C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Plenty of teams had solid draft classes then, especially since the overall 2019 NFL draft class was so good. However, most of the rest of the NFL had a few awful misses and didn't get nearly as much value as the 49ers did.
When revisiting the 2019 NFL draft class, it's safe to say the 49ers ran laps around everyone else.
