John Lynch haunted by not drafting Patrick Mahomes after attending his Pro Day as a ‘smokescreen’

An unexpected nugget about Patrick Mahomes revealed by John Lynch on Sunday morning may leave 49ers fans wondering "what if" when they tune into tonight's Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The subject of Mahomes came up while Lynch and Peyton Manning were answering questions about their recent selections to the Pro Football Hall of Fame during a Zoom conference on Sunday morning. Lynch had the opportunity to draft Mahomes during his first year as general manager with the 49ers in 2017 but decided instead to select defensive lineman Solomon Thomas after making a trade with the Chicago Bears that moved them from pick two overall to pick three. Mahomes went seven spots later to the Kansas City Chiefs after the Chiefs traded up with the Buffalo Bills. Thomas, of course, did not quite pan out as expected with the 49ers, while Mahomes is on a path that could end with him becoming one of the greatest players in NFL history.

"That will probably haunt me for a while," Lynch said.

Lynch went on to say that he attended Mahomes' Pro Day at Texas Tech as a "smokescreen" because the 49ers had already decided which direction they were heading in the draft. Mahomes at the time wasn't viewed by many scouts as a player who might get selected at pick two overall, but what Lynch saw on that day was so impressive that he said he got head coach Kyle Shanahan on the phone and suggested the team take a longer look at the possibility of picking Mahomes.

"We were in a different place as an organization and we had a different plan for quarterback because we really weren't -- I remember going to his pro day doing my job but really as kind of a smokescreen because were going elsewhere then calling my head coach, Kyle, and saying, 'We might want to rethink this because he put on a show,'" Lynch said.

Mahomes' Pro Day performance is available on YouTube, including an 80-yard bomb at the end of his throwing session that still has people talking.

"It was a windy day in Lubbock and I remember sitting or standing next to various NFL GMs and what not, and everybody's job was dropping because of what he was doing -- throwing the ball into the wind and he finished with like an 80-yard throw," Lynch said. "It was remarkable."

Lynch added that the 49ers had dinner with Mahomes, during which he saw some of the same personality traits that can be found in rare greats like Manning.

"He's an incredible kid," Lynch said. "We went to dinner with him and got to share and started to see that he had those other elements that we were talking about (regarding Manning earlier in the Zoom meeting) and wanted to be great."

The 49ers did wind up drafting a quarterback in the 2017 NFL Draft when they selected C.J. Beathard in round three. The team started the 2017 season with Brian Hoyer at quarterback, only to give him his release later in the season after trading for Jimmy Garoppolo. Mahomes, meanwhile, burst onto the scene in 2018 with an MVP performance after taking a season to develop behind former Chiefs and 49ers starter Alex Smith. He'll be looking to add a second Super Bowl win and Super Bowl MVP to his credit tonight after leading the Chiefs to victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV last season.

"He's a tremendous player and he's on a trajectory that he'll go down as one of the greats if he keeps it up," Lynch said. "He's got a great opportunity to obviously add to that legacy later today."