List of San Francisco 49ers first-round draft picks

Jerry Rice in a blue Nike shirt making the hang loose hand gesture.
The 49ers moved up in the first round of the 1985 NFL draft to pick future hall of fame wide receiver Jerry Rice with the 16th overall pick.[1] While playing for the 49ers, Rice was a 10-time first-team All-Pro, two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1987 and 1993), and broke numerous NFL receiving records.[2][3]

The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners)[4] are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference West Division.[5] The team, founded in 1944 by Tony Morabito, is named after the prospectors who arrived in Northern California in the 1849 Gold Rush.[6][7] The 49ers joined the NFL prior to the start of the 1950 NFL season.[6] Since 2014 they have played their home games at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, located southeast of San Francisco.[6][8][9]

The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting",[10][11][12] is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment.[13] The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them.[14] From 1947 through 1958 the NFL designated the first overall selection as a "bonus" or "lottery pick". The pick was awarded by a random draw and the winner who received the "bonus pick" forfeited its selection in the final round of the draft and became ineligible for future draws. The system was abolished prior to the 1959 NFL draft, as all twelve teams in the league at the time had received a bonus choice.[15][16]

Since the team's first NFL draft in 1950, the 49ers have selected 87 players in the first round. The team's first-round pick in their inaugural NFL draft was Leo Nomellini, a defensive tackle from the University of Minnesota; he was the 11th overall selection.[6][17] The 49ers have drafted first overall three times, selecting Harry Babcock in 1953, Dave Parks in 1964, and Alex Smith in 2005.[18] In the most recent draft, held in 2024, the 49ers chose Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall.[19]

The 49ers did not draft a player in the first round on ten occasions. Nine of the team's first-round picks—Lance Alworth, Jimmy Johnson, Ronnie Lott, Hugh McElhenny, Leo Nomellini, Jerry Rice, Y. A. Tittle, Patrick Willis, and Bryant Young—have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame;[16] one of these, Lance Alworth, chose to sign with the NFL's pre-merger direct competitor, the American Football League (AFL), and never played for the 49ers.[20][21]

  1. ^ "The most impactful draft-day trade for all 32 NFL teams". ESPN. April 22, 2019. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "Jerry Rice Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  3. ^ "Jerry Rice". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  4. ^ "San Francisco Forty Niners Company Information". Dun & Bradstreet. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
  5. ^ Astbury, Matt (April 10, 2023). "How many teams are in the NFL? Who plays in which division?". DAZN. Archived from the original on June 28, 2024. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d "Team Facts". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on August 1, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  7. ^ "The Founder". San Francisco 49ers. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  8. ^ Sanchez, Derrick (August 19, 2014). "What 49ers Had to Say about First Game at Levi's Stadium". Levi's Stadium. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  9. ^ Atlas, Beth (April 19, 2022). "On This Day in The Bay: Levi's Stadium Groundbreaking Ceremony". San Francisco 49ers. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  10. ^ "NFL Draft Profile – NFL Draft". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 17, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  11. ^ Farmer, Sam (April 26, 2008). "What makes them tick". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 7, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  12. ^ Reuter, Chad (April 13, 2012). "Who will be the best pro RB? Martin vs. Miller vs. Wilson". National Football League. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  13. ^ "NFL 2021 Draft date: when and where is it taking place?". Diario AS. February 18, 2021. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  14. ^ "The rules of the NFL Draft". National Football League. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  15. ^ Signora, Michael; Gilbert, Zak; Drexler, Sam; Enos, Cody; Romanko, Reilly (eds.). "Official 2023 National Football League Record & Fact Book" (PDF). National Football League. p. 529. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Hall of Famers by Draft Round". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  17. ^ "1950 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  18. ^ "San Francisco 49ers All-Time Draft History". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  19. ^ Russo, Ralph D. (April 26, 2024). "2024 NFL Draft: List of first round picks". AP News. Archived from the original on April 26, 2024. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  20. ^ "Lance Alworth". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  21. ^ Astbury, Matt (April 12, 2023). "Why are there divisions and conferences in the NFL? How do they work?". DAZN. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.