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The world won't know which of those players the 49ers like the most until the draft's first round takes place on April 29, but there's already been plenty of speculation as to who the selection will be. The widespread assumption is that quarterback Trevor Lawrence of Clemson will go at pick one to the Jacksonville Jaguars and that quarterback Zach Wilson of BYU will go at pick two, either to the New York Jets or a team that trades up with the Jets to get into that spot. That will most likely leave the 49ers to pick between Jones, Fields, and Lance, which seems to be something the 49ers are perfectly happy with after trading three first-round picks and a third-round pick to land the No. 3 pick from the Miami Dolphins on Friday.
"I think ultimately the decision we made was we were very comfortable with this group of players at the top of this draft," Lynch told reporters Monday. "We felt like putting ourselves in a position to get up to three where we kind of controlled things was something very attractive to us."
A number of NFL reporters and draft analysts have offered their opinions on which way they think the 49ers will go at pick three, with some thinking Lance will get the call, while others think it will be Fields, and quite a few more believing the 49ers will raise some eyebrows and pick Jones, who up until this point has not been rated as highly by draft analysts as the other four. Shanahan wouldn't dive too deep into specifics on Monday, but he did say the 49ers were confident before making the trade that at least three of the aforementioned players are worthy of consideration with the third overall pick. The 49ers will be using the next 30 days to decide if the player they might have originally had in mind as the third-best option is the one to take at pick three or if one of the other players is a better answer.
"You know I can't answer exactly on this stuff, but the way we looked at it is, to move up to three, we had to feel good there's three guys we'd be comfortable with leading our team for a long time," Shanahan said. "And we couldn't make that decision before there were three guys. So we had to feel that way with three. Now I think there's a chance to get there with four and five. There's a chance. There's five guys that are kind of at this party a little bit. People are talking about them going everywhere. They're all over in the first round.
Speculation that the 49ers might be leaning towards Jones grew this week when Peter King of NBC Sports revealed that Lynch and Shanahan would be in attendance at an Alabama Pro Day on Tuesday instead of one being hosted by Ohio State, which King reported will be attended by 49ers assistant general manager Adam Peters. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Shanahan typically does not like to attend Pro Days in person, but Shanahan told reporters Monday that things have changed on that front now that the 49ers have pick 3 -- and to not read too much into him and Lynch heading to Alabama due to the fact that they'll get another chance to look at Fields down the line.
"We have people at all the spots -- a lot of people we trust and people we'll meet with over the next month," Shanahan said. "I normally don't like to go to them a bunch unless I feel I have to for some reason. But I also have been kind of grown up in the idea that you don't like to go everywhere and show people things. When you're sitting at 12, I don't like to go to a bunch of quarterback Pro Days and things like that. Now that you move up to three, you don't have to hide as much. It's not as big of a deal to me as it might have been when we were sitting at 12."
"Also, Alabama's already had one; this is their second one. And just talking with Fields's agent [David Mulugheta] and everything, we'll get another one from him too. So we'll be able to see him. That kind of made it an easy decision."
Shanahan also offered some quick thoughts on Jones, Fields, and Lance, who had his Pro Day earlier in March. Lance put on an impressive show at his Pro Day and seems to be a safe bet to be drafted somewhere in the top ten, even though there's some uncertainty around his level of experience after playing in only one game last season due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Regarding Fields, Shanahan was asked whether or not he felt comfortable with his knowledge of the former Ohio State standout since he wouldn't be visiting him in person on Tuesday. Shanahan actually met Fields while attending the annual QB Collective event during Fields' high school days and knows what Fields can do after watching him on film.
"Yeah, I feel comfortable," Shanahan said. "That QB thing, I've only done it once and I think he was a junior in high school then, which was really cool to go do that. I hope I'm not in trouble for that; that was like seven years ago. But yeah, we talked to Dave Mulugheta the other day and he said they'd be able to set up another one, and that's why we chose Alabama. I'm excited to see him eventually in person. I've also got a lot of tape to go off too. I know he's going to throw it really good in person and be really fast in person also."
As for Jones, Shanahan didn't offer any specifics other than to say, "I just saw him in January for the first time along with all these other guys. They've all been in that boat."
While it remains to be seen which player winds up being selected at pick three by the San Francisco 49ers, there's no doubt the next 30 days will be incredibly important for the future of the franchise. If the team gets this decision right, it could set things in a positive direction for at least the next decade. But if it gets it wrong, the decision to trade three first-round picks will be one that comes back to haunt Shanahan and Lynch for much longer than that.
