First-round draft picks are the lifeblood of any NFL organization, and when a team has two first-rounders in the same draft it can be an opportunity to build a franchise foundation. The 49ers were looking to add foundational pieces in April when they selected Javon Kinlaw and Brandon Aiyuk in the 2020 NFL draft — the 21st time in the team’s 75-year history San Francisco had multiple picks in the opening round of the annual college lottery. Some of those dual first-round packages worked out better than others and had a significant impact on the team:
1 Patrick Willis and Joe Staley(2007): How many first rounds for any team in any NFL draft produced legitimate Hall of Fame candidates on each side of the football? Both Willis (No. 11 overall selection) and Staley (No. 28) were generational talents who became immediate starters and quickly developed into franchise cornerstones. The 49ers have had some pretty good first-round pairs over the years, but Willis — a seven-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro — and Staley — a six-time Pro Bowler — simply blow away everybody else.
This story is from the June/July 2020 edition of Niner Report.
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This story is from the June/July 2020 edition of Niner Report.
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STOCK UP STOCK DOWN
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TOP 10 Linebacker seasons
Fred Warner vaulted to stardom with a spectacular 2020 season — and the 49ers rewarded him this summer with a $95.225 million deal that makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. By today’s standards, Warner’s performance last year was worth the money as he posted an Approximate Value of 19 — matching the highest score ever recorded by a San Francisco defender according to a Pro Football Reference formula that puts a single number on each player-season across all positions since 1960. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman (twice) also had seasons with an AV of 19 as they dominate this list of the greatest individual seasons by a linebacker in 49ers history.
