San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
49ers could use No. 3 pick on Crimson Tide QB Jones
Will the surprise be followed by a shocker?
The 49ers caught much of the NFL off guard with Friday’s blockbuster draftpick trade with the Dolphins.
For their next stunner: Could they use the No. 3 pick they acquired to select Alabama quarterback Mac Jones?
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, among many who has Jones rated as the draft’s fifthbest QB, thinks it’s possible based on NFL buzz. Jeremiah, a former NFL scout, said multiple people “around the league” told him “don’t sleep on Mac Jones here” after it was reported the 49ers had traded three firstround picks and a 2022 thirdrounder to move up nine spots to No. 3.
NBC’s Chris Simms, a close friend and college teammate of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, said, via Twitter: “You trade up to 3 for a QB who is NFLready right now, not a project. And to me that says Mac Jones.”
Said Jeremiah: “Would it be a shock? Yes. If (the 49ers) parted with multiple firstround picks to move up and take Mac Jones in the top five, that would shock me. I would not see that coming. But, again, there’s people inside the league that are pretty wellconnected on this stuff who just alerted me to look out for that. So I’m not ruling it out.”
Jones is viewed as having less potential than the 49ers’ other possible options at No. 3: BYU’s Zach Wilson, who is expected to go No. 2 to the Jets, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance. Jones was widely viewed as the only QB among the top five who wouldn’t be selected with a top10 pick.
However, unlike the more mobile Fields and Lance, Jones is a classic pocket passer, which is the type Shanahan has preferred throughout his 13 seasons as an offensive coordinator and head coach. Jeremiah mentioned former Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins, whom Washington drafted in the fourth round in 2012 at Shanahan’s urging when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator.
“All those guys played the game similarly,” Jeremiah said. “All very intelligent and process very quickly. And Kyle kind of played quarterback from the sideline really with a very large playbook to do whatever he wants from that standpoint. And that seems to be, when you talk to people at Alabama, Mac’s strength is just his football intelligence. And his ability, when you watch him on tape, to work through progressions.”
It’s perhaps notable that ESPN reported the 49ers had been trying to move into the “top five picks” for several weeks. They also had discussions with the Falcons (No. 4) and Bengals (No. 5). Given the possibility that quarterbacks could be drafted with each of the top four picks this year, the 49ers could have been content to have Jones fall to them at No. 5 based on their reported discussions with Cincinnati.
The 49ers have drafted only one quarterback since Shanahan arrived in 2017. They used a thirdround pick that year on C.J. Beathard, a pocket passer who played in a prostyle offense at Iowa. The same was true for Cousins, a largely immobile QB whom Shanahan has coveted. Shanahan has acknowledged he didn’t study the top quarterbacks closely in 2017, passing on Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Houston’s Deshaun Watson, because he expected to sign Cousins in free agency in 2018.
When that plan was altered because the 49ers traded for Jimmy Garoppolo during the 2017 season, general manager John Lynch joked Shanahan was initially in “mourning” because it meant he wouldn’t land Cousins.
Jones is a pocket passer from a prostyle offense who led the Crimson Tide to a 130 record while completing 77.4% of his passes and throwing 41 touchdown passes and four interceptions in 2020. His total rushing yards: 14. Jones was surrounded by elite talent that included three players, wide receivers DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle, and running back Najee Harris, who could be top20 picks in April.
If Jones isn’t the 49ers’ pick? Jeremiah thinks they will take Lance. He views Lance as a slightly better prospect than Fields based on his decisionmaking.
However, his belief that the 49ers won’t take Fields is based on the predraft schedule. Lance had his pro day before NFL coaches, executives and scouts on March 12. Fields will participate in Ohio State’s pro day Tuesday.
If “you’re going to make this type of a move, I would think you would wait until (Fields’) pro day next week to do it,” Jeremiah said. “There’s no harm in waiting a week just to be able to see him . ... That, to me, points to either Trey Lance or Mac Jones. To me, Trey would make more sense just because he gives you a whole different skill set that you don’t have with Jimmy and a lot of upside there . ... But, again, I wouldn’t rule out the whole Mac Jones situation, either.”