NEWSLETTER
There’s been plenty of smoke around the idea of the 49ers trading up to the No. 3 spot with eyes on Alabama quarterback Mac Jones.
But that smoke appears to be clearing, and behind the haze could be a quarterback who isn’t Michael McCorkle Jones:
Just conversation with people around the league, and what they believe.
Quote from a division rival "I'll believe Mac Jones when I see Goodell read the card, and even then I'm checking for CGI…" https://t.co/c7bQjExE4O
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) April 15, 2021
Oof. Maybe all it took was Matt Nagy showing up in Columbus to spook San Francisco. Or maybe the 49ers brass is coming around to a quarterback who was the second-highest-ranked prospect in this class coming into the 2020 college football season. Perhaps the ghost of Joe Montana came to John Lynch and/or Kyle Shanahan in a dream. Whatever it was, it seems as if chatter around the league has the 49ers moving their focus to Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields being the third pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
So, if you’re a Bears fan who had their hearts set on trading up to pick Fields, then this bad news. But it doesn’t have to be. It’s possible Chicago could still like Trey Lance or Mac Jones as much as Fields. And if that’s the case, they could still swing a deal to move up in the Draft. In fact, they might not have to climb all the way up to No. 4 to get the fourth or fifth quarterback in this class. There exists a scenario in which one of Lance or Jones drops to a place where the Bears aren’t moving the earth, stars, and moon to trade for one of those prospects. And if that is how it plays out, then it might be a welcome sight.
Or maybe this is another smokescreen. The Niners are infamous for them at this point. In other words, this revelation leaves us (and the rest of the league) guessing at what is coming down the pipeline when the 2021 NFL Draft kicks off two weeks from tonight.
