Besides his pledge to be a collaborator with Mike Vrabel in building the Tennessee Titans roster, one of the main things that apparently appealed to Amy Adams Strunk and the ownership group in the hiring of Ran Carthon was his and the San Francisco 49ers’ ability to find late-round gems for their roster that go beyond just someone who can cover a punt.
Since Carthon arrived in San Francisco in 2017, the 49ers have had an unusual number of success stories culled from the fifth-round or later who have been instrumental in the team’s success.
Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, “Mr. Irrelevant” as the last pick in the 2022 draft, is leading the 49ers offense and has not lost a game since taking the reins after both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo were lost to injuries. System quarterback or not, Purdy has proved he belongs, and Carthon has been an instrumental part in discovering these unlikely success stories.
But Purdy has been far from the only one. Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle, probably the best tight end in the league not named Travis Kelce, was a fifth-round pick in 2017. Starting linebacker Dre Greenlaw was a fifth-round grab in 2019, the same year that the top of the 49ers draft class yielded Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuel.
Receiver Jauan Jennings of Tennessee was a seventh-round find in 2020, and former Niner, now Giant, Richie James was a big seventh-round contributor coming out of MTSU as a 2018 seventh-rounder. Running back Elijah Mitchell came in the sixth round in 2021.
The 49ers have found a long list of starters and valuable role players through the work of their scouting staff.
“That was one of the things I touched on as well in my interview. Again, it goes back to the word collaboration,” Carthon says. “That fifth, sixth, seventh round is the work of the scouts, and it is the work of the assistant coaches – those guys spending time together, understanding the scheme and finding players who are those depth level players, that are going to fit our roster and help fill out the bottom of our roster.
“Those are the areas where you start to use more of your staff. Us being able, in San Francisco, to hit on those picks was totally a collaboration of our assistant coaches and our scouts.”
It is something that was music to Mike Vrabel’s ears – especially given the Titans draft misses in recent years.
“I want to hear about these guys and we both love – the majority of people can kind of figure out that the top players are the top players, like top 100. Where all my excitement comes in is the seventh round and late draft,” Vrabel says. “We’ve had some really good late rounders, we all have. Where his experience and where I have been is trying to – we see it the exact same way.
“Let the scout and the position coach come together and act like Mike (Vrabel) and Ran (Carthon) throughout the draft. They can go, they can fit their board and say, ‘Here are our undrafted guys, if they pass through the draft. Hey, Ran (Carthon), here’s how you can help us. (Mike) Vrabel, here’s how you can help us,’” Vrabel continues. “We will support that. That was part of our conversation. That’s where we can hopefully continue to find his strength in the back end of our roster or special teams or you end up finding a guy that starts for you or plays.
“That’s where I think you can really come together and you can say, ‘Hey, this is what we saw in George (Kittle). A lot of other people passed on him, but this is what we saw.’ Or I can say, ‘Hey, this is what we saw in Teair Tart,’ who has been a valuable member of our defense and went undrafted. That’s where I think, hopefully, we can continue to excel.”