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NFL Draft: Greatest pick from each franchise’s history

By Hans Themistode

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - SEPTEMBER 22: Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald #11 of the Arizona Cardinals catches a pass prior to the NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers at State Farm Stadium on September 22, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - SEPTEMBER 22: Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald #11 of the Arizona Cardinals catches a pass prior to the NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers at State Farm Stadium on September 22, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images) /
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Jerry Rice
Jerry Rice (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

NFL Draft: Greatest pick from each franchise’s history: San Francisco 49ers, WR Jerry Rice

Pick: 1985 NFL Draft, 1st round number 16 overall

Stats: 

  • 22,895 receiving yards
  • 1,549 receptions
  • 197 receiving touchdowns

Awards: 

  • 13 Pro Bowl
  • Former MFP
  • 3 time Super Bowl Champ
  • 1 Super Bowl MVP

Not even the great Joe Montana can compare to arguably the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, Jerry Rice. After trading up to the 16th overall pick in the 1985 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers nabbed their guy out of Mississippi Valley State.

There was no need for Rice to get used to the bigger and stronger defenders at the next level. He simply dominated everyone who lined up against him.

Double coverage? Too easy. Put three on him? Maybe you have a chance. One on one? You were toast.

Seemingly everything that was thrown in the direction of Rice was caught. After spending his first year catching only 49 balls for 927 yards, the 49ers realized that it was in their best interest to make Rice the number one option. Once they did, the rest of the league didn’t know what to do.

Whether he was still in his 20s or getting up there in age, Rice was always good for at least a thousand yards when fully healthy. Rice put together 11 straight seasons of at least a thousand yards. Once it looked like he was slowing down, the 49ers shipped him off to the Oakland Raiders at the age of 39.

Under normal circumstances, a player would be just about done, but Rice was anything but normal. He went on to have two more seasons cracking over 1,100 yards. He was a 13 time Pro Bowler, three-time Super Bowl champ, a Super Bowl MVP and regular-season MVP. For as great as Joe Montana was, he simply wasn’t Jerry Rice.

It’s going to take a special player to dislodge him as the best player this franchise has ever drafted.

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