San Francisco 49ers
Battle card · first-round draft history, season-by-season record, and how 49ers top picks have shaped the franchise.
R1 Picks
60
Hall of Famers
4
6.7% hit rate
Avg pick slot
18.0
Highest pick
#1
Alex Smith · 2005
All-time record
484–389–4
0.554 win %
Playoff seasons
29
of 56
The Story
- San Francisco 49ers have made 60 first-round selections and produced 4 Hall of Famers (6.7% hit rate).
- Their highest selection on record is #1 overall in 2005, when they took Alex Smith.
- Across 56 seasons in this dataset they have a 484-389-4 record (0.554) and reached the playoffs 29 times.
- In seasons after holding at least one top-10 pick, San Francisco 49ers added an average of 2.2 wins versus the prior year (16 such seasons in the data).
- Their most-drafted position group is DL, taken 18 times in Round 1.
- Ohio St. is their go-to talent pipeline, supplying 3 first-round picks.
- Their best season was 1984: 15-1-0 (+248 point differential).
- Their worst was 1978: 2-14-0 (-131 point differential).
Wins per Season
R1 Pick Slot by Year
Position Breakdown
Point Differential by Season
Impact of Top-10 Picks (Next-Season Wins Delta)
| Draft Year | Pick | Player | Prior-Year Wins | New-Year Wins | Delta | HoF? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | #9 |
Wilbur Jackson
+ #10 Bill Sandifer
|
5 | 6 | +1 | |
| 1975 | #10 | Jimmy Webb | 6 | 5 | -1 | |
| 1978 | #7 | Ken MacAfee | 5 | 2 | -3 | |
| 1981 | #8 | Ronnie Lott | 6 | 13 | +7 | HoF |
| 1994 | #7 | Bryant Young | 10 | 13 | +3 | HoF |
| 1995 | #10 | J.J. Stokes | 13 | 11 | -2 | |
| 2001 | #7 | Andre Carter | 6 | 12 | +6 | |
| 2005 | #1 | Alex Smith | 2 | 4 | +2 | |
| 2006 | #6 | Vernon Davis | 4 | 7 | +3 | |
| 2009 | #10 | Michael Crabtree | 7 | 8 | +1 | |
| 2011 | #7 | Aldon Smith | 6 | 13 | +7 | |
| 2016 | #7 | DeForest Buckner | 5 | 2 | -3 | |
| 2017 | #3 | Solomon Thomas | 2 | 6 | +4 | |
| 2018 | #9 | Mike McGlinchey | 6 | 4 | -2 | |
| 2019 | #2 | Nick Bosa | 4 | 13 | +9 | |
| 2021 | #3 | Trey Lance | 6 | 10 | +4 |
Hall of Fame Selections
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | #8 | Ronnie Lott | DB | USC |
| 1985 | #16 | Jerry Rice | WR | Miss. Valley St. |
| 1994 | #7 | Bryant Young | DT | Notre Dame |
| 2007 | #11 | Patrick Willis | LB | Mississippi |
Every First-Round Pick
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | College | HoF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | #9 | Cedrick Hardman | DE | North Texas | |
| 1970 | #17 | Bruce Taylor | DB | Boston Univ. | |
| 1971 | #23 | William Anderson | DB | Ohio St. | |
| 1972 | #19 | Terry Beasley | WR | Auburn | |
| 1973 | #18 | Mike Holmes | DB | Texas Southern | |
| 1974 | #9 | Wilbur Jackson | RB | Alabama | |
| 1974 | #10 | Bill Sandifer | DT | UCLA | |
| 1975 | #10 | Jimmy Webb | DT | Mississippi St. | |
| 1978 | #7 | Ken MacAfee | TE | Notre Dame | |
| 1978 | #24 | Dan Bunz | LB | Long Beach St. | |
| 1980 | #13 | Earl Cooper | RB | Rice | |
| 1980 | #20 | Jim Stuckey | DE | Clemson | |
| 1981 | #8 | Ronnie Lott | DB | USC | HoF |
| 1984 | #24 | Todd Shell | LB | BYU | |
| 1985 | #16 | Jerry Rice | WR | Miss. Valley St. | HoF |
| 1987 | #22 | Harris Barton | T | North Carolina | |
| 1987 | #25 | Terrence Flagler | RB | Clemson | |
| 1989 | #28 | Keith DeLong | LB | Tennessee | |
| 1990 | #25 | Dexter Carter | RB | Florida St. | |
| 1991 | #25 | Ted Washington | NT | Louisville | |
| 1992 | #18 | Dana Hall | DB | Washington | |
| 1993 | #26 | Dana Stubblefield | DT | Kansas | |
| 1993 | #27 | Todd Kelly | LB | Tennessee | |
| 1994 | #7 | Bryant Young | DT | Notre Dame | HoF |
| 1994 | #28 | William Floyd | FB | Florida St. | |
| 1995 | #10 | J.J. Stokes | WR | UCLA | |
| 1997 | #26 | Jim Druckenmiller | QB | Virginia Tech | |
| 1998 | #28 | R.W. McQuarters | DB | Oklahoma St. | |
| 1999 | #24 | Reggie McGrew | DT | Florida | |
| 2000 | #16 | Julian Peterson | LB | Michigan St. | |
| 2000 | #24 | Ahmed Plummer | DB | Ohio St. | |
| 2001 | #7 | Andre Carter | DE | California | |
| 2002 | #27 | Mike Rumph | DB | Miami (FL) | |
| 2003 | #26 | Kwame Harris | T | Stanford | |
| 2004 | #31 | Rashaun Woods | WR | Oklahoma St. | |
| 2005 | #1 | Alex Smith | QB | Utah | |
| 2006 | #6 | Vernon Davis | TE | Maryland | |
| 2006 | #22 | Manny Lawson | DE | North Carolina St. | |
| 2007 | #11 | Patrick Willis | LB | Mississippi | HoF |
| 2007 | #28 | Joe Staley | T | Central Michigan | |
| 2008 | #29 | Kentwan Balmer | DT | North Carolina | |
| 2009 | #10 | Michael Crabtree | WR | Texas Tech | |
| 2010 | #11 | Anthony Davis | T | Rutgers | |
| 2010 | #17 | Mike Iupati | G | Idaho | |
| 2011 | #7 | Aldon Smith | DE | Missouri | |
| 2012 | #30 | A.J. Jenkins | WR | Illinois | |
| 2013 | #18 | Eric Reid | DB | LSU | |
| 2014 | #30 | Jimmie Ward | DB | Northern Illinois | |
| 2015 | #17 | Arik Armstead | DT | Oregon | |
| 2016 | #7 | DeForest Buckner | DE | Oregon | |
| 2016 | #28 | Joshua Garnett | G | Stanford | |
| 2017 | #3 | Solomon Thomas | DE | Stanford | |
| 2017 | #31 | Reuben Foster | LB | Alabama | |
| 2018 | #9 | Mike McGlinchey | T | Notre Dame | |
| 2019 | #2 | Nick Bosa | DE | Ohio St. | |
| 2020 | #14 | Javon Kinlaw | DT | South Carolina | |
| 2020 | #25 | Brandon Aiyuk | WR | Arizona St. | |
| 2021 | #3 | Trey Lance | QB | North Dakota St. | |
| 2024 | #31 | Ricky Pearsall | WR | Florida | |
| 2025 | #11 | Mykel Williams | DL | Georgia |