We still don’t know who the next head coach and general manager will be for the 49ers, but there is starting to become a consensus on who the new regime might draft at quarterback in April.
UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky officially entered the NFL Draft Monday and multiple mock drafts have San Francisco taking him with the No. 2 overall pick — MMQB, CBS, SB Nation. To start the season, most mock drafts had him as a second or third round pick.
The stats and the measurables for Trubisky really do jump off the page: 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, 30 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 68 percent completion percentage in his junior season with the Tar Heels. The NFL Draft advisory board handed Trubisky a first-round grade.
“I don’t believe there’s a first-round quarterback outside of Trubisky,’’ ESPN’s Mel Kiper said. “Teams reach for quarterbacks, overdraft quarterbacks, all the time.”
Kiper’s right. There is no tougher position to evaluate in the NFL Draft than quarterback. First round busts from this decade include Tim Tebow, Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder, Robert Griffin III, Brandon Weeden, E.J. Manuel and Johnny Manziel. The success rate for first-round quarterbacks is a 50-50 coin flip at best.
And it’s become clear where scouts have paused on Trubisky’s stock: Why did it take him until his junior season to earn the starting spot?
NFL.com’s resident scout Bucky Brooks had some real concerns about the mental side of Trubisky’s quarterbacking skills.
I walked away disappointed with Trubisky’s turnover woes against [Stanford]. He turned the ball over three times (two interceptions and one fumble) and didn’t consistently exhibit the kind of judgment that you would expect from a guy with low-turnover numbers heading into the game. Looking back at Trubisky’s interceptions, I noticed that he was fooled on each play. On the first interception in the second quarter, he didn’t see the backside safety while staring down his intended target. He needs to do a better job of reading the coverage while fielding the snap and anticipate where defenders could show up in passing lanes.
But any solid rebuilding project has to also include a quarterback. Trent Dilfer and many others agree the Colin Kaepernick era is over in San Francisco. It’s time to start fresh at the quarterback position for the first time since 2012.
That could also mean waiting until the second round, but that’ll be a gamble. The Cardinals, Bears, Jets are all in need of a young, starting quarterback. Due to the nature of supply and demand, Clemson’s Deshaun Watson and Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer are the two other prospects who could hear their name called in the first round.
We’ll have plenty of more coverage on Trubisky the next few months, but start getting yourself familiar with his name.