The 49ers are one of the best teams in the NFL, in large part because they’ve been one of the best teams at finding talent at the end of the NFL draft.
Much of the 49ers’ production in Monday night’s win over the Jets came from players who were undrafted or selected late in the third day of the draft.
The 49ers got a 200-yard passing game from former Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy, a 125-yard running game from undrafted Jordan Mason, a 50-yard receiving game from 2020 seventh-round draft pick Jauan Jennings, and an interception from undrafted Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. According to OptaSTATS, the 49ers are the only NFL team in the Super Bowl era to get those levels of production from four players who were drafted 200th or later or not drafted at all.
The 49ers also have undrafted Kevin Givens on the roster, as well as seventh-round picks Tatum Bethune and Ronnie Bell, sixth-round picks Nick Zakejj and Dee Winters, and seven former fifth-round picks in George Kittle, Colton McKivitz, Talanoa Hufanga, Jaylon Moore, Robert Beal, Darrell Luter and Deommodore Lenoir.
The 49ers also have plenty of premium highly paid talent, and Purdy may become the highest-paid player on the team next offseason. But a big part of the reason they’ve successfully managed their salary cap is that they’ve hit on the late-round picks and undrafted rookies who are the cheapest players on any NFL roster.