Ari Meirov of NFLupdate.co shared an interesting look inside the draft room of the Atlanta Falcons as the San Francisco 49ers were selecting quarterback Trey Lance with the No. 3 overall pick. The Falcons ended up selecting tight end Kyle Pitts with the next selection.


The video is somewhat interesting for a couple of reasons (h/t to Patrick Tulini for the find). After the 49ers select Lance, you can see new Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot smiling and hear him telling new head coach Arthur Smith, "You called it a month ago."

That's interesting because it wasn't until that morning that Lance became the betting favorite to be the No. 3 overall pick. Leading all the way up to the selection, everyone seemed to be guessing who the 49ers were targeting. Mac Jones of Alabama had been the favorite for much of the month between San Francisco's trade on March 26 to the start of Round 1 on April 29.

The media was reporting that most around the league felt that the 49ers would select Jones. It looks like Smith, like many fans, never bought into that. It also makes it clear that had Lance had fallen to them, the Falcons would not have selected the North Dakota State quarterback. Pitts was always their guy.


Also, in the video, you can see the positions of need that Atlanta had listed for San Francisco. It is assumed that quarterback was listed first. There's isn't a good look at the card they replace with Lance's name. The second was offensive guard. The 49ers did use their second-round pick to address that position, selecting Aaron Banks of Notre Dame.

Defensive end was listed third among the 49ers' needs. San Francisco did not select a defensive lineman in the draft. Cornerback and tight end appear to be listed as the next priorities.

Another noteworthy tidbit from the video was the Detroit Lions calling the Falcons before they turned in their selection. Of course, that won't be particularly interesting to Niner fans.
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