© Kirby Lee | 2021 Apr 29
So we know that Mac Jones wasn’t the 49ers’ guy as so many reported before the draft, but what was he to them exactly?
That’s a question that Jed York answered in an interview with Jim Trotter of NFL.com on Saturday, where the 49ers owner revealed exactly what John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan were thinking upon making the blockbuster trade to acquire the No. 3 overall pick in the draft.
Put simply, Shanahan and Lynch were more interested in the dynamic talents of Trey Lance and Justin Fields, and always saw the more limited talents of Jones as a “safety net” pick, a player they would only take if Fields and Lance proved to be less impressive than initially thought.
“In fact, the 49ers made the trade so they could do deep dives on Lance and Fields and be confident of getting either, if that’s where the evaluation process took them. Jones was considered a safety net, if you will, someone they could win a title with but not necessarily a transcendent talent, because he lacks the mobility to consistently turn off-schedule plays into something positive. Jones had the higher floor, but Lance and Fields were thought to have the higher ceilings, which is important because of how the league is progressing.”
While the reports that Jones was the apple of their eye turned out to be false, the reports that many in the building had no idea who the 49ers were going to pick had truth to it. Shanahan and Lynch didn’t even make the decision until the Monday before the draft. York wasn’t informed until Tuesday.
Tuesday was also when York spoke to former 49ers running back Frank Gore, a player that the owner has kept in contact with over the years. York called Gore shortly after the trade was made, asking for his take on the three quarterbacks. York didn’t hear anything for awhile, then his phone lit up on that Tuesday night.
“‘CALL ME,’ it read, all caps.
“Gore had watched the tape. Suffice it to say, he was wowed.
“‘You don’t give up all that for a pocket passer,’ Gore told me. ‘You don’t give up all that and still need to call a perfect play for a guy. This guy can make plays even when the call ain’t perfect. He has a chance to be special in that offense.’”