© Tim Heitman | 2020 Jan 11
As the guy who selected Patrick Willis, Joe Staley, Vernon Davis and Frank Gore, former 49ers GM Scot McCloughan knows a thing or two about drafting players, specifically tough ones. Though no longer working for an NFL team in an official capacity, McCloughan works as a draft consultant for about three to five NFL teams every year, meaning he is still breaking down tape for players projected to go in the first three rounds.
In a story that dropped Wednesday, McCloughan sat down with Matt Barrows of The Athletic to give his analysis of the 49ers’ draft class. The most interesting portion of their chat was unsurprisingly McCloughan’s take on quarterback Trey Lance. McCloughan believes that Lance was drafted higher than he should’ve been, he had a late first-round grade on him, and that trading three first-round picks was an overpay. Still he had Lance as the third best QB in the draft behind Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields, and believes that he will end up being a solid NFL quarterback.
When searching for comparisons, McCloughan dropped one former and one current NFL signal-caller.
“Lance, honestly, I think he’s like (former Oilers, Titans and Ravens quarterback Steve) McNair and he’s like Dak (Prescott), from the standpoint that he’s a big guy, a physical guy, a tough guy, a smart guy,” McCloughan said. “He’s just not going to ever be great at one thing, whereas, like, (Patrick) Mahomes you say, “Well, he’s got arm talent, no doubt about it.” Or you could say with Brett Favre, “He’s great because of the arm talent,” or you could say with Lamar Jackson, “It’s the athleticism and the big-play ability.” With Trey, there isn’t ever going to be one thing that you say he does the best. But he does everything good. And that’s plenty enough to win a championship.”
McNair was a three-time Pro Bowler and former NFL MVP, so that career trajectory wouldn’t be so bad. Interestingly, McCloughlan believes that Lance is a better prospect than No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson, who he thinks is at risk to get knocked around in the NFL. He also thinks he’s way better than Mac Jones, who McCloughlan thinks is a backup QB at the NFL level.
“I saw him as a perennial backup, No. 2, at best,” he said of Jones. “There’s no physical skills. You can say ‘mental ability’ all you want, but you’ve got to have some physical upside. Like, Lance — he’s got physical upside. That gives him a chance to be a legit No. 1 (quarterback). Jones — you see him being a solid No. 2 when it’s said and done, which is fine. You just don’t take him in the frickin’ first round. Not early. And thank goodness the 49ers didn’t do that because they would have gotten buried on that in about three, four years.”