You thought no one would bring up the idea that the San Francisco 49ers trading up in the 2021 draft was motivated by wanting Mac Jones again, didn't you? Adam Schefter is here to disappoint you.
It's not his fault, though. Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show, the NFL insider was asked about the potential conflict inside the building regarding who to draft with that No. 3 overall pick. Schefter was trying to end that line of thinking.
"I don't think that's right," Schefter said of the talk about internal debate. "I'm just telling you, they traded up with the idea that they loved Mac Jones, okay? When they made that trade, they traded up with the idea that they're 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.
"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
There was so much speculation on who the 49ers were targeting leading to that draft. The fact that the team's top decision-makers, head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, weren't offering any hints only fueled that speculation. There were reports that even the other coaches inside the building were unsure which quarterback the team was selecting.
Lynch even believes team CEO Jed York thought the duo was leaning toward Jones.
"It's not like we were trying to keep secrets [from him]," Lynch said in May of 2021. "We're really honest. We just wanted to let the process play out. And you never know what can happen, you know?"
Shanahan and Lynch also admit that, while frustrating for fans, keeping everyone in the dark about the 49ers' plan was fun. Shanahan also admitted to liking Jones a lot and that the decision ultimately came down to Jones and Lance.
Schefter believes Jones would have allowed for an easier transition from Jimmy Garoppolo, as there are similarities between the two. However, it might have limited the evolution of the offense.
"And 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," Schefter continued. "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.
"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."
Last year, Shanahan revealed that the 49ers were locked in on Jones and Lance from the beginning, prompting the decision to trade up.
"Those were the two guys (Jones and Lance) that we were locked in on from the beginning, and if we never moved up to [No. 3], we would have never had the chance to learn more about Trey," Shanahan said.
He added, "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, and 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."
