Insider Dan Graziano joined ESPN's Get Up! on Wednesday morning to discuss the San Francisco 49ers' rookie quarterback options at the No. 3 overall pick. The top candidates are Justin Fields of Ohio State, Mac Jones of Alabama, and Trey Lance of North Dakota State. Most "experts" are predicting that the Niners will draft Jones. Oddsmakers feel more confident that it will be Fields.
Graziano says you shouldn't discount the possibility that it will be Lance.
As others have said this week, the insider notes that no definitive decision has been reached inside the 49ers' building. The team continues to discuss its options.
"It may be that Mac Jones is the guy they had in mind when they made the trade, and certainly what you hear when you talk to people close to this situation, around this situation, is Mac Jones, Mac Jones, Mac Jones," Graziano told Mike Greenberg, Ryan Clark, and Desmond Howard.
"But, I've also been told, again, as recently as 48 hours ago, that no final decision has been made, and there's a lot that points -- I know everybody likes Justin Fields, and I do too -- there's a lot that points to Trey Lance as a guy that could be the 49ers' pick, that fits more of what they do in terms of his experience under center, and play-action, and all that kind of stuff you like to see in a Kyle Shanahan offense."
On March 26, San Francisco traded up nine spots from the No. 12 overall pick, and in eight days, will have to decide on who will be the team's quarterback of the future. Will it go with Jones, a more pro-ready quarterback who potentially has a higher floor but a lower ceiling? Or will it select a more athletic quarterback with a potentially higher ceiling in Fields or Lance?
"I go back to December when Josh Allen and the Bills beat Kyle Shanahan's 49ers," Graziano added, "and Kyle said all kinds of great stuff before and after that game about what a quarterback like that, with that kind of athletic ability, offers an offense, and I keep thinking about Trey Lance when I think about those comments."
