by AB
The San Fransisco 49ers made a blockbuster trade on March 26th when they traded up to get the 3rd pick in the NFL draft. It absolutely stunned the NFL world, and it was a massive shock to everyone at the time. Here we are, exactly 1 month later and the draft is coming up in 3 days. Reports have been coming out about who the 49ers are going to pick, and I'm going to be breaking down who I think the 49ers will take and why I think that.
Let's start with breaking down all the rumors that have besieged 49er fans over the last month. Ever since the trade was made, the immediate thought of who the 49ers would draft was immediately Mac Jones to NFL Analysts. This was further immediately fueled when the Niners head coach and GM, Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch attended Mac Jones pro day at Alabama over Justin Fields pro day at Ohio State. The rumors were persistent, and a constant stream of stories kept leaking every week about how much Shanahan liked Mac Jones.
Eventually, Fields held a second pro day and the story was that Fields had impressed them and the Fields to SF rumors ran wild. The following Monday, Lance had a second pro day and the story afterward was that Lance had impressed them and that Lance to SF had "serious buzz" around it. Basically, the 49ers have been undecided for the last month according to all the reports, and weren't sure who they wanted.
This past Sunday night, just a couple of days before the draft finally arrived, Ian Rappaport of NFL Network, tweeted out that the Niners have come down to 2 different QB choices in Mac Jones Trey Lance. Conversely, Jeremy Fowler in ESPN said in the morning that the 49ers have made their decision and they already know who they are going to pick. Two conflicting reports... doesn't seem to make much sense does it?
I do think there is a lot of overreactions about the 49ers drafting Mac Jones. He is a good QB. He has some elite-level traits. It's fair to judge whether you think he is worth it at the 3 picks. He has some great traits to work with. He has a great processing speed, extremely quick feet in the pocket, and he's an accurate QB. Niners' system with their weapons will be perfect for him and will help him out a lot as well.
What I eventually believe will happen however is that the 49ers draft Justin Fields on draft night. Fields have some blazing level speed, he has an amazing deep ball, and he has immense upside. I think Kyle goes out and gets a dynamic QB that he loves. I think he goes and gets his franchise QB for the next decade or so and tries to get that elusive Super Bowl ring.
This is all speculation, and I truly believe that no one outside of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch knows who the pick is. I think that they have kept this to themselves and have tried keeping it secret from anyone within the building and to other teams. I don't think anyone will know who the Niners pick to be their future franchise QB, until Thursday night, on April 29th.