Faithful Time Machine: A Draft That Built A Dynasty

[Sourdough Sam]

In 1979, there weren't NFL Scouting Combines or college pro days where Walsh and his staff could evaluate all top college NFL prospects in one place. This meant that Walsh and his new staff had been extremely busy for months visiting the top prospects at their campuses to talk to them and work them out.


Walsh was widely acknowledged by football experts as an outstanding quarterback coach and evaluator - a quarterback whisperer, if you will. He had perfected his West Coast pass-to-control-the-ball offense by then. I've long thought his offense should properly be named the "Walsh Offense" to give The Genius his props! In his two years as Stanford's head coach, he'd turned Guy Benjamin and Steve Dils into efficient bowl-winning quarterbacks. Walsh personally did the evaluation visits for quarterbacks he was interested in drafting. In one of these visits, he uncovered a genuine gem. More on that discovery later.


Back to the draft. The previous season, in 1978, the Niners had the worst record in the NFL. That should have entitled them to the first-overall pick in the 1979 draft. However, a 1978 trade with the Bills for O.J. Simpson sent five high draft picks to Buffalo, including that first-overall pick. All together, Buffalo got the Niners second and third round picks in 1978, first and fourth round picks in 1979 and second round pick in 1980.


There was heavy speculation in local media that Walsh would pick a quarterback with the 49ers first pick in the second round. The speculation focused on Phil Simms of Morehead State and Steve Fuller of Clemson. Both figured to be available when the Niners made their first pick. Walsh had worked both Simms and Fuller out prior to the draft. Some felt that Walsh would tab his Stanford quarterback, Steve Dils, with his first selection. Dils had led the nation in many passing categories in 1978 under Walsh's tutelage.


By the time it was the Niners pick, three quarterbacks had been drafted in the first round, including Simms and Fuller. Nobody will ever know who Walsh would've picked first if Simms or Fuller were available at No. 29. But when that pick rolled around, everybody still thought the "quarterback whisperer" would pick someone to lead his offense.


Instead, Walsh surprised the football world, and me, by selecting UCLA running back James Owens with his first pick! Walsh intended to make Owens into a wide receiver with world-class speed. Owens had finished sixth in the 110 meter hurdles at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. There was no doubt he had world-class speed, but could he catch a pass with NFL defensive backs threatening him on crossing patterns over the middle?