Is NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reporting the truth, or are the San Francisco 49ers using his communication leverage to send a smokescreen to the rest of the league?
Welcome to the final week of the guessing game.
Early Monday morning, Rapoport dropped an article saying the 49ers are strongly considering a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick in Thursday’s NFL Draft.
According to several sources with knowledge of the team’s thinking, the 49ers are still strongly considering taking a quarterback second overall. That would be somewhat of a surprise, considering they signed presumptive starter Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley in the offseason — and they have Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins potentially as an option for 2018. Taking a quarterback high would likely end any chance at Cousins.
The last two sentences are why I’m having a tough time buying this report. I know Shanahan’s feelings on Cousins are so strong, he tried to deliver to the quarterback to Cleveland while he was there. The 49ers still reportedly have more than $70 million in cap room — double of most teams. Signing Cousins next offseason won’t financially devastate this team, like it would to most other suitors.
Further, picking a quarterback at No. 2 in this draft class will be considered a reach by most who have followed this entire process. Three prospects have helped their draft stock in the months leading up to the draft — Deshaun Watson, Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes — but none are expected to be taken before pick No. 6 with the New York Jets. And on film, none of the experts are projecting these prospects to walk into the NFL and light the league on fire. Taking a quarterback at No. 34 makes entirely more sense.
I wrote that week that this is John Lynch’s pick. The 49ers made it clear he focused on building the draft board, while Kyle Shanahan picked the free agent targets and got his coaching systems up and running downstairs in Santa Clara.
All of that changes if the pick is a quarterback, though. That means Shanahan saw aspects from one of the guys on film that was too good to pass up. That means he’s willing to risk the first part of this rebuild grooming a franchise quarterback instead of taking a proven commodity like Cousins.
The quarterback play honestly sounds more risky than LSU’s Leonard Fournette, than Alabama’s Jonathan Allen (shoulder concerns), than Reuben Foster (diluted drug test, combine incident), than either Malik Hooker or Jamal Adams.
Might as well get this on paper now in case it happens: Deshaun Watson is my favorite of the quarterbacks. And while there is a laundry list of college quarterback prospects with winning backgrounds who have failed at the NFL level, it’s more Watson’s arm and big-play ability I like than his national championship win over Alabama.
If I had to place a wager on what the 49ers do with this pick, it wouldn’t be quarterback. There are too many other potential Pro Bowl players, there is Cousins in free agency, and there’s a six-year contract for this power duo running the 49ers. Swinging and missing with the No. 2 pick on quarterback is a sure way to set this rebuild back many years.
With that being said, it would be hard to not get excited about the first quarterback San Francisco has taken in the first round since Alex Smith in 2005. Because Shanahan will ultimately have final say on this position, it would be hard not to trust his instincts on the position. But when asked about finding a franchise quarterback in February, here’s what Shanahan said.
“There’s a very natural ability in the throwing and if you don’t have that, it’s very hard to succeed in this league,” Shanahan told beat writers after his introductory press conference. “You are always looking for one of those seven throwers on the planet, whatever that number is. I’m guessing there’s only around seven.”
We’ll find out in four days if Shanahan thinks he’s found one of the seven throwers in the planet.