When the 49ers traded up for the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, everyone and their mother knew they did so to select a quarterback.
The only question was what signal-caller would San Francisco take?
With Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson virtual locks to go No. 1 and No. 2 last year, respectively, the Niners were left to decide between a trio of top-tier QB prospects: Mac Jones, Justin Fields and Trey Lance. And in the weeks leading up to the draft, Jones appeared to be the target for John Lynch and company.
But when the time came to make a franchise-altering pick, the Niners went with Lance, an FCS product who only played one full season of college football. Jones ultimately landed with the New England Patriots at No. 15, 12 picks after Lance and four after Fields.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan appeared on the latest episode of the “I AM ATHLETE” podcast and used an analogy to explain why the 49ers went with Lance and not Jones, who earned a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie.
“I always compare it to how I buy houses,” Shanahan said, as transcribed by NBC Sports Bay Area. “When my wife would bring me to a house she loves, I go through the house and point out every single thing that’s wrong with it. Usually, by the end of it, she’s in tears and she’s apologizing to the realtor for how offensive I’ve been, and then I come out and they’re out there and they’re like, ‘What do you think?’ and I’m like, ‘Oh I like this one, let’s get this,’ and they’re like, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
“And I’m like, I realize the things that are wrong and I know we can fix those three things, so let’s go off the potential of this and that’s how I was with him and Mac (Jones) because Mac had so much good stuff on tape the way he played and Trey, I loved what he put on tape, it was a year of football, so it wasn’t totally enough, especially the division. But the more you dive into it, the more I got to know the guy, the more I got to find out some stuff about him, the more I believed in what I didn’t see and what I believe we will see.”
Shanahan’s comments suggest the 49ers aren’t expecting Lance to light the world on fire this season and they won’t be thoroughly disappointed if he doesn’t play at a Pro Bowl level. Much like Josh Allen in Buffalo, it might take a few full seasons before Lance puts it all together and lives up to his draft position.
Still, oddsmakers are expecting the Lance-led Niners to be pretty competitive in 2022. San Francisco currently has the fourth-shortest odds at DraftKings Sportsbook to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LVII.
