If you missed it, last week I took a look at the top five players who were/are the 49ers future. If you're a little bit clueless at to what that means, it's simply a joke referring to a meme which took over Niners Nation by way of user "KORY SHEETS WAS OUR FUTURE." It spawned a whole crop of players who surely were the 49ers future. Surely. They had to be.
I figured I may as well take a look at some recent players who most certainly were not the 49ers future. I can think of a few, you had better believe.
5. Tully Banta-Cain, LB
This is a pretty random pick, to be sure. Banta-Cain played for the 49ers in 2007 and 2008 and was pretty hyped up, coming from the New England Patriots. Surely he'd be good? Nah ... just nah. He was awful in a 49ers uniform, and I think every single fan realized it almost immediately. It felt like he wasn't trying when he was out there, and that sucks considering the fact that immediately after he was released, he went back to the Patriots and played very good football. Tully Banta-Cain was not the 49ers future.
4. J.T. O'Sullivan, QB
J.T. O'Sullivan was a Mike Martz signee and a Mike Martz favorite. The quarterback "competition" didn't really exist; J.T. was the favorite from the beginning, and for a minute - literally one minute - we that he might be a guy who could play the position at a high level. What a horrible, misguided minute that was. Not only was "Just Touchdowns," not nearly as touchdown-proficient as his abbreviated name might suggest, he didn't know what "ball security" meant. He was bad, laughably bad.
But none of us laughed. We cried. "Just Turnovers" O'Sullivan was not the 49ers future.
3. Brandon Jones, WR
As one of my colleagues at Niners Nation put it, the 49ers paying Brandon Jones $16M would be like another team signing the 49ers' current WR Josh Morgan to that kind of contract. It's not to say that he's bad, just wildly unproven while not really showing anything to indicate that he deserves that kind of scrilla.
Jones came in and was part of one of the worst punt return units the league has ever had the displeasure to view. Jones was oft-injured, not especially fast despite his advertised deep-threat ability and a general letdown. I don't think any 49er fan was awfully excited when he was brought in. I wasn't. I'm still haunted by those punt returns.
2. Arnaz Battle, WR
Speaking of punt returns ... do I need to say anything? Since this is a Bay Area site, there are other fans here - namely, Raiders fans. If you ever want to laugh at the 49ers, go watch some tape of Arnaz Battle returning punts. Some of the worst things a 49ers fan can see. I'd probably rather watch the famed Brett Favre pass from the 2009 season over and over again as opposed to having to watch another Arnaz Battle punt return.
That wasn't all he did as a 49er, though. I mean, for a long time he was a halfway decent receiver, but for the entirety of the time that he was shuffled from #3, #2 and #1 wide receiver, I knew the majority of 49ers fans were begging for the position to be upgraded. We always knew that Arnaz Battle was not the future at wide receiver. He even earned the honors of being the 49ers Human Roster Exemption for the 2009 season.
1. Glen Coffee, RB
Does anything need to be said here? Glen Coffee came into the league drafted a bit high, in the third round by the 49ers. He played well in the preseason and 49ers fans were looking forward to "Frank N' Beans," in the backfield. What a preseason that was ... cue the regular season and a hurt Frank Gore, and then you've got a 2.7 yards per carry running back in Glen Coffee.
Cue the offseason, then. Coffee is working hard, putting on weight and the future looks bright. He's our future at this point, and in fact, he was my future. I spent an awful lot of time defending him when the 49ers drafted Anthony Dixon, and now, look what he's done. He retired before his second year in the NFL. Everyone was confused. It was immediately clear that the majority were wight - Glen Coffee was not the 49ers future.