NFL Insider Adds Context To 49ers Passing On Mac Jones In 2021 Draft

The San Francisco 49ers initially had eyes for Mac Jones in the 2021 NFL Draft.

They wound up selecting Trey Lance with the No. 3 overall pick, though, a decision ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter explained this week came after San Francisco moved up from No. 12 in a pre-draft blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins.

"When they made that trade, they traded up with the idea that they were going to draft Mac Jones, while also having I think it was six weeks to the draft -- maybe a little less, a month or so -- to look at the other prospects," Schefter said Wednesday on the "Pat McAfee Show." "And while they looked at the other prospects, they fell in love with the intangibles that Trey Lance demonstrated. He did testing and tested off the charts in terms of intelligence. They brought him in the building. The guy was ultra impressive. And even though they traded up with the idea of picking Mac Jones, while doing their work, they became enamored with this guy and the upside that he had."

"The 49ers traded up with the idea that they were going to draft Mac Jones..

While they looked at the other prospects they fell in love with Trey Lance" ~ @AdamSchefter#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/2HJnoXWYbO

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 21, 2023

The jury remains out on Lance, a 23-year-old who's made just four career NFL starts. The North Dakota State product was named San Francisco's starter to begin the 2022 campaign, after backing up Jimmy Garoppolo in his rookie year, but suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2. That opened the door for Brock Purdy, selected with the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, to lead the 49ers' offense.

Now, it's unclear what the future holds for Lance in the Bay Area. His name has been kicked around in trade rumors, but San Francisco ultimately could keep both him and Purdy as it looks to contend for a Super Bowl title in the 2023 season.

"When they made the deal, the motivation initially was Mac Jones."

Adam Schefter on the 49ers trading up to No. 3 in the 2021 NFL Draft

Jones, meanwhile, has had an up-and-down two-year run with the New England Patriots, who selected him with the No. 15 overall pick in 2021. As such, it's hard to say definitively whether the Niners dropped the ball, although they surrendered a haul to move up nine spots in hopes of drafting a franchise-caliber quarterback.

"I think they felt like if they take Mac Jones, then their offense -- which, many teams run versions of and they copy what they do -- will continue to be duplicated, but it would be harder to duplicate what they do with a guy like Trey Lance, who freelances and plays spontaneous football the way he does," Schefter said. "And so, in the end, they went for the guy with the bigger upside, a guy that had great intangibles, and they went for Trey Lance. But I'm telling you, when they made the deal, the motivation initially was Mac Jones."

Add it to the growing list of "what ifs" in NFL history.