In a span of six drafts, the Niners selected three players who would become arguably the greatest players ever at their respective positions. They helped the 49ers win five Super Bowls in a 14-year stretch.
When compiling this list, I automatically eliminated players who did/have not played at least four seasons for the Niners.
The order is based mainly on stats and effect on the field. To break up ties, playoff success was weighed into the equation.
Also, considering some of these players retired well before I was born, I relied heavily on Pro-Football-Reference.com's career approximated value.
The much-maligned wide receiver is second all time in receiving yards and third all time in touchdown catches. On stats alone, he belongs in the top five of this list, but he just misses the cut because of his known divisiveness as a teammate.
San Francisco's all-time leader in rushing yards, Frank Gore has been an instrumental piece to the 49ers' return to prominence. He'd need a couple more productive seasons and more playoff success to crack the top 10.
The five-time Pro Bowler had more than 11,000 all-purpose yards. In his rookie season, he had 1,731 all-purpose yards in a 12-game season. Hugh McElhenny and fullback Joe Perry (who was signed by the 49ers outside of the draft) were selected to the 1950s All-Decade Team.
John Brodie was a prolific passer in the late '50s and '60s. His career approximated value is the sixth highest in 49ers history.
Randy Cross played some center in his career, but he won both of his Super Bowls with 49ers as the starting right guard. He was selected to three Pro Bowls.
Charles Haley is most commonly known for being a five-time Super Bowl champ (two with San Francisco, three with Dallas), which helped his case for making this list.
Haley is second all time in sacks in 49ers history, but he may not be for long at the rate Aldon Smith is accumulating sacks.
Twice he totaled more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage in a single season, including his 1988 campaign for which he was awarded AP Offensive Player of the Year.
He was a key contributor to the 49ers' last Super Bowl team in his rookie season, but his career really took off in 1996 when he had 11.5 sacks and was named First-Team All-Pro.
Leo Nomellini was a Pro Bowler on the offensive line and the defensive line, though he earned most of his accolades on defense.
He's made the Pro Bowl in each of his first six seasons, and he already ranks 20th in career approximated value in 49ers history.
Despite his incredible accolades, Willis needs several years more of Pro Bowl-caliber stats to even get close to the top three on this list.
Often considered the greatest safety of all time, Ronnie Lott was the leader of the secondary through San Francisco's glory years.
The 49ers won four Super Bowls with Lott, who played cornerback for the first two titles and safety for the last two.
Lott is San Francisco's all-time leader in interceptions. He's also sixth all time in career interceptions in NFL history.
We'll never know how many receivers purposely stopped going over the middle to avoid one of Lott's bone-crushing hits.
I'm sure several of you are wondering how the greatest receiver, and arguably the greatest player, of all time is No. 2 on this list.
Jerry Rice has the most receiving yards and touchdowns in NFL history. He won three Super Bowls, earning MVP honors in 1988 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
He was named AP Offensive Player of the Year twice (1987, 1993), and, of course, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
Joe Montana, a two-time AP MVP and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is unquestionably the greatest quarterback of his era, and arguably the greatest signal-caller of all time.
Montana also has three Super Bowl MVPs, which is two more than Rice was awarded, although you could argue Rice deserved one for each of his three championships.
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