There’s growing certainty in the NFL draft community that the 49ers will select Alabama quarterback Mac Jones No. 3 overall. Rumors began swirling the moment San Francisco pulled the trigger on their trade up to the No. 3 pick, and they haven’t slowed down. For some prominent NFL reporters and analysts, the draft is starting with the Falcons at No. 4. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport isn’t ready to jump to that point though.
Rapoport on Friday joined the Rich Eisen Show and talked about the 49ers’ plans with the third pick. While he said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told him they’re definitely considering Jones at No. 3, and that people who know Shanahan say he loves Jones, Rapoport stopped short of penciling him in as the pick.
“I think a lot of the buzz is legit. What I don’t 100 percent know is, are they actually doing it?” Rapoport told Eisen. “Because if you talk to other teams in the top 10, and really just other teams in general, everyone agrees Mac Jones is a first-round pick. Not everyone agrees that he should be picked there. So, is he Kirk Cousins-plus for Kyle? Maybe. But I’m not 100 percent ready to say, ‘this is definitely the guy let’s move on to the fourth pick.’”
This is the logical conclusion to draw with Ohio State’s Justin Fields and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance also in the mix to go in the top three. While Jones is coming off a stellar 2020 season, Lance and Fields are excellent prospects in their own right with a ton of athleticism that adds to their upside.
If Shanahan wants to go with the same type of quarterback he’s worked with his entire career – Jones would seem to be the logical choice, which is why he’s been tied to the 49ers from the moment the trade was made. There’s plenty of reason to believe they’ll go a different direction though, and someone as plugged in as Rapoport not committing to a player at No. 3 says the door is still wide open.
