Giants' Cam Skattebo Nearly Drafted by 49ers, Shanahan's Interest Revealed

NFL draft stories are the greatest. Remember when a homeless man told Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam to draft Johnny Manziel ? Or when the Minnesota Vikings missed their No. 7 overall pick in 2003? Just this past draft, we watched wide receiver Makai Lemon speak with  Pittsburgh Steelers  executives on the phone, only for him to be stolen away by the Philadelphia Eagles  at No. 20 overall.

The "almost drafted" stories are fantastic. What would the NFL look like if the New Orleans Saints got Patrick Mahomes at No. 11 back in 2017? Or if the New York Giants selected Josh Allen at No. 2 overall in 2018? This week, we discovered a pretty interesting "almost drafted" story centered around running back Cam Skattebo .

When  Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh, who faces Skattebo this week, was asked what he thought about New York's young star running back, he said he really liked the player. In fact, when he was the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers , the franchise was aiming to draft him in the fourth round before the Giants stole him away.

"He's cool, man, I like him," Saleh said with a laugh. "He's like the old-school 2010 Madden hit stick, lower your shoulder, run people over. Plays his ass off, lots of energy. I know going into the draft ... we were actually about to draft him in San Francisco. Kyle [Shanahan] loved him, and he ended up getting taken right before we were picking, and I think we ended up with CJ West , who's a pretty damn good player too. But he's a spark plug."

> #Giants drafted Cam Skattebo at No. 105 Robert Saleh says #Niners wouldve taken him at 113 because Kyle Shanahan ‘loved him’ pic.twitter.com/fTlQqOW3wE — Ryan Dunleavy (@rydunleavy) September 23, 2026

Skattebo went just eight picks before the 49ers allegedly tried to grab him. I guess general manager John Lynch should have traded up. Or the 49ers could have selected him five picks earlier at No. 100 overall, where they picked Western Kentucky cornerback Upton Stout .

Sure, there are probably instances where coaches and executives lie about these "almost drafted" stories. Who knows if Sean Payton really thought Mahomes was the best quarterback prospect of all time, but Saleh has no reason to lie about this story. He's no longer with the 49ers.

Fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft (picks 105-112)

Pick Team Player selected

105

New York Giants

RB Cam Skattebo

106

New England Patriots

S Craig Woodson

107

Jacksonville Jaguars

LB Jack Kiser

108

Las Vegas Raiders

WR Dont'e Thornton Jr .

109

Buffalo Bills

DT Deone Walker

110

New York Jets

WR Arian Smith

111

Philadelphia Eagles

DT Ty Robinson

112

New Orleans Saints

LB Danny Stutsman

113

San Francisco 49ers

DT CJ West

Christian McCaffrey and the physical Skattebo in San Francisco would have been arguably the NFL's best one-two punch at running back. Here we have a versatile future Pro Football Hall of Famer who can hurt you in a variety of ways, and then a tough-to-take-down demon that probably wants to hit you more than you want to hit him.

Skattebo racked up 617 yards from scrimmage and seven total touchdowns in his first eight NFL games in 2025 before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. He was actually one of just five NFL players to record 400 yards rushing and 200 yards receiving through Week 8 last year, joining De'Von Achane , Bijan Robinson , Jonathan Taylor and ... Christian McCaffrey. Through Week 2 this season, Skattebo has rushed for 117 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries.

Anyone running the rock in that Shanahan system, piloted perfectly by Brock Purdy , could look like a star. One could only imagine what a "big three" of Purdy, McCaffrey and Skattebo would have looked like.

Add CBS Sports on Google Join the Conversation comments

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/giants-star-cam-skattebo-almost-became-49er-kyle-shanahan/)._