Getty Alabama quarterback Mac Jones
Despite increasing speculation surrounding the San Francisco 49ers and Mac Jones, one Bay Area radio host is taking his chances that the Alabama quarterback won’t be the team’s No. 3 overall pick on April 29.
The debate over which of the top remaining prospects the Niners should choose has been raging on since last Friday’s blockbuster trade that saw the Niners jump into the top three slots for just the fifth time in the Common Draft Era (since 1967), per ESPN Stats & Info. What started as a two-quarterback race between Ohio State’s Justin Fields and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance has since developed into an intense three-way battle including Jones.
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Not everyone is buying into the sudden rise of the Crimson Tide star, however. On Tuesday, Mark Willard, sports radio host for KNBR in San Francisco, went out on a limb as Jones was in the spotlight during Alabama’s official pro day. In a since-pinned tweet, Willard wrote:
“If the 49ers draft Mac Jones at 3, I will walk to his first start in Santa Clara from my childhood home in Foster City.”
If the 49ers draft Mac Jones at 3, I will walk to his first start in Santa Clara from my childhood home in Foster City.
The total distance? Nearly full marathon length at approximately 24 miles — which would take the average person just over eight hours to walk, according to Google Maps.
‘Everything You Hear Points to Mac Jones’ at No. 3
Skepticism aside, the link between Jones and the Niners appeared to have strengthened on Tuesday, with general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan electing to be in Tuscaloosa for an up-close look at Jones rather than at Ohio State to observe Fields’ impressive performance.
While Shanahan did acknowledge on Monday that he will attend a second pro day being scheduled by Fields’ camp prior to April 29, a team’s disbursement of high-ranking executives versus its scouting staff can, at times, be telling.
As The Athletic’s Matt Barrows pointed out on Twitter while Jones was throwing for personnel around the league, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah noted on the pro day broadcast that “Everything you hear points to Mac Jones to the Niners.”
Interesting contrast: Daniel Jeremiah saying, “Everything you hear points to Mac Jones to the Niners” at pick No. 3 while the NFLN scroll at bottom screen has Jones ranked as the 32nd-best prospect by Jeremiah.
As one of the sport’s leading NFL Draft voices, Jeremiah’s claim further cements Jones as a legitimate option at No. 3, a connection that began gaining steam late last week after NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms tweeted out his hypothesis — one that was surprisingly met with support from some other notable names in football media.
49ers-Dolphins…Kyle Shanahan trying to control his own fate. You trade up to 3 for a QB who is NFL-ready right now, not a project. And to me that says Mac Jones.
Belief in most NFL buildings is that Lawrence and Wilson will go 1-2, to Jags and Jets. Niners at 3? Don’t rule out Jones… along with Fields and Lance as possibilities 👀
I’d echo @CSimmsQB and @MikeSilver that Mac Jones, like Trey Lance, is a fit for Kyle Shanahan’s offense. The question with Jones regards upside/value in moving up.
49ers’ crew at Bama Pro Day last week: Scouting directors Ethan Waugh and Tariq Ahmad and area scout Steve Rubio.
Shanahan Defends 49ers’ Decision to Trade Up
In addition to surrendering its original No. 12 overall pick to move up nine spots to No. 3, the 49ers mortgaged a significant chunk of their future high-level draft capital, including a first-rounder in 2022 and 2023 and an additional third-rounder in 2022.
During Monday’s pre-draft press conference alongside Lynch, Shanahan explained the front office’s reasoning for the “go big or go home” move.
“We felt pretty strongly we were gonna get left at the altar sitting there at 12,” Shanahan told reporters, via ESPN. “There are five guys that are kind of at this party a little bit, and people are talking about them going everywhere. They’re all over in the first round. Our feeling is these guys were going to go a lot higher than people realize.
“We went to ownership and said, ‘Hey, things are looking good. We’d like to make this move, but we also don’t want to say goodbye to Jimmy [Garoppolo]. It was a stated goal that we needed to come out with the quarterback position being stronger this year, and I think we’ve put ourselves in an opportunity to make that happen with this move.”
As far as Garoppolo goes, Shanahan also confirmed that he “had a good conversation with him” following the franchise-altering trade.
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Chris Licata is an NFL contributor covering the San Francisco 49ers. Follow him on Twitter @Chris__Licata or join the Heavy on 49ers Facebook community for the latest out of the Bay Area!