‘Team ACL’ drafts injured player again

On Saturday, with the 49ers’ fourth-round pick, general manager John Lynch did something that inspired harrowing flashbacks for the team’s fans: He drafted a player rehabbing from a torn ACL.

You still can hear the screaming from Santa Clara to St. Helena.

The selection of North Carolina State defensive end Kentavius Street, who tore a knee ligament during a workout with the Giants on March 31, has ear-splitting echoes of selections made by Lynch’s predecessor, Trent Baalke.

From 2013 to 2016, Baalke used seven picks, including five in the first four rounds, on players recovering from knee injuries. And the results weren’t pretty: Only one player, defensive lineman Tank Carradine, ever started a game for the team, and even Carradine qualified as a disappointment.

Carradine signed with the Raiders in March, which meant every player from what derisively became known as “Team ACL” was off the 49ers’ roster.

It was symbolic: a new regime cleaning up past mistakes.

Then, on Saturday, Lynch continued the tradition with a decision that launched a thousand expletives.

He was told many fans thought he went down the

wrong road by selecting Street.

“I think we’re aware of that,” Lynch said. “We’re not trying to make popular picks. We’re trying to make good picks. And we were very convicted that this was just that. We care about our fans. We love their input. We love their passion. We might have been told about that history. Sure, you know about it — but we can’t let that affect us.”

The 49ers valued Street (6-foot-2, 287 pounds) for his size and strength (he has squatted 700 pounds), which they think could make the threeyear college starter a nice fit at their big-end position. Arik Armstead has played the position, but the 2015 first-round pick is in the final year of his contract and the 49ers are unlikely to pick up the $9 million fifth-year option on his contract for 2019. Street should be ready in 2019.

“We aren’t looking for guys” who are injured, Lynch said. “But when you find a guy you

really like, sometimes you’ve got to be patient. And we’re willing to be patient, if it’s worth it. And we feel like it’s worth it in this case.”

Fans have heard this before. Their patience was not rewarded after Baalke’s injured draft picks sat out their first NFL season.

Four of the players did not play a regular-season snap for the 49ers, wide receiver DeAndre Smelter had one catch in two games and cornerback Keith Reaser had 30 tackles and no interceptions in 29 games.

Carradine, a 2013 secondround pick, was the group’s wild success story after he had 5.5 sacks in his 44-game, eightstart tenure.

“That is hard,” Shanahan said of drafting an injured player. “It’s hard for fans. It’s hard for John. It’s hard for coaches. You want to improve right away, so usually you can come up with a better decision, or talk yourself into something else when you get to that spot. I think that shows how we felt about (Street). You are trying to talk yourself into other spots because you want to add (to the roster) now. … But he was the best choice.”

Shanahan noted that he doesn’t share in the 49ers’ tortured recent history. He’s been part of a team that drafted a player with a torn ACL only once before Saturday and that selection turned out well. In 2013, Shanahan was the offensive coordinator when Washington used a fifth-round pick on running back Chris Thompson, who has had a productive NFL career.

Still, Shanahan understands why the team’s fans might not have reacted well to Saturday’s selection.

“Everyone,” he said, “has scars from their past.”