The 49ers haven’t had much luck drafting players in the third round, and Cameron Latu is shaping up to be another example of that.
The San Francisco 49ers have done a lot of things right and well under the leadership of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
However, they haven’t been particularly good at drafting players in the third round.
Sure, All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner is an exception, but before him were cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon and quarterback C.J. Beathard, neither of whom lived up to expectations. And more recently, the Niners’ third-round picks, running backs Trey Sermon (2021) and Tyrion Davis-Price (2022), flopped and were released after just one season.
Additionally, wide receiver Danny Gray (2022) is falling out of favor quickly and looks set to be the next in a long line of third-round draft misses by San Francisco.
Just behind him is second-year tight end Cameron Latu, who was selected 101st overall out of the University of Alabama in 2023.
Looking for a quality No. 2 tight end to pair with All-Pro George Kittle, the 49ers were hoping Latu could capitalize on the 787 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns he recorded over his final two seasons with the Crimson Tide to get his pro career off to a good start.
But Latu struggled badly during training camp, struggling to catch the ball or run routes, and after showing flashes of brilliance in preseason games his rookie year, a subsequent knee injury landed Latu on injured reserve for the remainder of 2023.
The Niners opted not to activate Latu from injured reserve later in the season, leaving Latu’s role and status heading into 2024 very unclear.
The odds are already stacked against Latu as he heads into training camp this year.
Latu, who already missed organized team activities and mandatory minicamp because of an injury last year, will now compete directly with Kittle’s reserves, which include two veterans in Eric Saubert and Logan Thomas, two second-year pros in Brayden Willis and Jake Tonges and undrafted rookie Mason Prine.
There are seven names there.
Assuming Shanahan sticks with only four tight ends on the 53-man roster, Latu would have to beat out at least two of the aforementioned names, but by a significant margin.
It’s not all doom and gloom: Sovert is merely a reinforcement option at this point in his career, while Pleine and Tonges are longshots on the reinforcements chart.
Still, Latu’s roster spot remains up in the air, and to have any chance he’ll need to work in a completely different direction than his training camp efforts a year ago.
If not, he could end up joining the ranks of the third-round draft picks San Francisco has seen in recent years who sign with the team on just one year.
