Originally posted by GEEK:
Here's my tin foil hat theory on the matter.
- It's been Fields or Wilson this whole time. That's why they did the trade up. Fields has 2 years of a significant sample size, and the 49ers have direct connections with their HC (former 49ers assistant) and QB (Shanahan at QB collective).
- 49ers love the talk about their interest in Lance and Jones. The higher they go, the more QB needy teams picking later in the draft will seriously need to consider Garoppolo as their solution for 2021.
- I do think they are telling the truth that they see 5 starters out of the top 5 prospects at the position. If your option A had a Watson event, you'd need to be comfortable with your option B. However, there's a clear favorite in this group. And my money is on Fields.
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Even if it's not Fields, I do think Lance and Jones can perform well under Shanahan. Lance is raw, but immensely talented. If he gets a year on the bench, I genuinely believe he can be a strong starter in the league.
For Jones specifically, he's got deadly accuracy and a good enough deep ball. That combination would have won us the super bowl. While he may not be an elite QB in the Allen/Mahomes style, we just need incremental improved back from Garoppolo's peak to make us a strong contender. I wouldn't like the pick personally, but I get the rationale.
I believe it's going to be Fields and will continue believing that until Goodell says otherwise.
I do think its odd that there have been so many rumors about Lance and so many rumors about Jones connecting them to the 49ers but basically nothing about Fields even though the 49ers had personnel at both of his Pro Day's. I think Fields is the only one where Scangarello was at both his Pro Days and I'm guessing he's got a sizable amount of influence on the decision, probably more than McDaniel.
I think that they truly like Lance and Jones a lot but Fields is the only one that fully checks all the boxes and is somewhat ready to play right away.
