Giants:
S.F. shut out by Rockies 2-0, but remains a game ahead of St. Louis for second wild-card position.
Here is the Cowboys’ quarterback situation: Rookie Dak Prescott has been so impressive that head coach Jason Garrett has been asked if Tony Romo, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, will be the starter when he returns from his back injury.
And here is the 49ers’ quarterback situation: Blaine Gabbert has been so underwhelming that head coach Chip Kelly has been asked if he’ll be replaced by Colin Kaepernick, the demoted starter Gabbert replaced last year.
Yes, this is an appropriate time to ponder what might have been if the 49ers had selected Prescott
in the 2016 draft: Five months after they didn’t draft him, the 49ers will face Prescott on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
Prescott has led Dallas to a 2-1 record by completing 66 of 99 passes for 767 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. His 99 attempts to open a career without an interception rank second in NFL history (behind the 102 of Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick).
Asked if he has extra motivation when he faces a team that didn’t draft him, Prescott noted that, well, he was a fourthround pick.
“That’s every game,” Prescott said. “… In the fourth round, everyone passed you up a couple of times. I’ve got a chip on my shoulder — I have my whole life — but the draft process definitely made it grow a little bit.”
Prescott’s predraft process didn’t include much contact with the 49ers, who were coming off a 5-11 season in which Kaepernick and Gabbert combined to post a passer rating (82.6) that would have ranked 31st in the NFL.
Prescott said the 49ers were “probably one of the teams I talked with the least.” It was noted Prescott has dual-threat ability that seemingly would make him desirable in Chip Kelly’s offense, which utilizes plenty of zone-read plays. Prescott, who rushed for 2,521 yards and 41 touchdowns at Mississippi State, has 54 yards and two scores in the NFL.
“I just figured that they had their quarterback position set,” Prescott said. “They liked what they had.”
It’s possible, of course, that the 49ers were disguising their interest in Prescott. However, that argument falls a bit flat considering their apparent lack of interest in the position during the draft.
After they made seven selections, five of whom were offensive or defensive linemen, they used a sixth-round pick on Louisiana Tech’s Jeff Driskel, the 14th quarterback drafted. Driskel, who is with the Bengals, was among their final roster cuts after posting a 33.3 preseason passer rating.
It’s also possible the 49ers were scared off by Prescott’s DUI arrest in Starkville, Miss., in March, about two months before the draft. He was found not guilty in July.
Prescott acknowledged his arrest might have contributed to his draft plunge and the 49ers could have been particularly wary: At the time of the draft, seven 49ers had been arrested since 2012 and the spate of off-the-field incidents had created plenty of public backlash.
Two picks before the Cowboys took Prescott, though, the 49ers used the No. 133 pick on cornerback Rashard Robinson, who served two suspensions at LSU before he was kicked off the team. Robinson was arrested in June 2015 for unauthorized entry, but no charges were filed.
“We looked at (Prescott) just like all quarterbacks in the draft, and we were really impressed with him and thought that he was someone that could really play in this league,” Kelly said. “Where it fell in terms of what we were taking, he was kind of slotted around where he got taken. That’s kind of where we thought he was going to go.”
The 49ers were obviously not alone in failing to use a pick on Prescott, but few teams entered the draft with such a glaring need at quarterback.
In August, general manager Trent Baalke was asked why the 49ers hadn’t used one of their 39 top-200 draft picks on a quarterback since selecting Kaepernick in the second round in 2011.
“There were times we were prepared to make picks, and the board didn’t fall the way we maybe wanted it to fall,” Baalke said. “There are other times players were picked ahead of where we felt the value was. There’s so many things that go into it. … It is a position you’re constantly trying to address.”
Given Prescott’s early career success, the 49ers probably regret not addressing it sooner in the 2016 draft. As for Prescott, he’s over the draft and is looking ahead to what appears to be a promising career.
“That’s all said and done,” he said. “I’m just focused on what’s in the future.”