San Francisco 49ers: Is the Mac Jones hype at 3 for real?

When the San Francisco 49ers traded up to the third overall pick all the way from 12, it was widely assumed that they would be going after one of two high-upside players at the quarterback position: Ohio State’s Justin Fields or North Dakota State’s Trey Lance.

Then some people (who are in the know) started spouting off takes about…Mac Jones?

Mac Jones? At three overall?

There is enough smoke coming from this idea — Mac Jones to the 49ers at pick number three overall, to be specific — to believe there might be some fire.

As I type this post, the 49ers’ top decision-makers (GM John Lynch, head coach Kyle Shanahan) are in Tuscaloosa at the second Alabama pro day while many other executives are at Ohio State to see Justin Fields.

Not that the 49ers can’t base their decision to draft a guy on tape and Zoom interactions, but it’s worth noting at this point that they have now missed both Trey Lance’s and Justin Fields’ pro day performances, foregoing one of their only opportunities to see those guys in person on this circuit.

They were in person for Zach Wilson at BYU (the day their big trade was announced) and now are in attendance to see Jones.

The 49ers wouldn’t have made their trade into the top three selections without someone specific in mind, as in, they have a solidified top-three at the quarterback position. Is it possible that they would have Jones — who has consistently been rated a second-round player by draft pundits — as their QB3? Maybe even QB2?

Jones is definitely more in the mold (physically, stylistically) of guys that Kyle Shanahan has had success with in the NFL when you look at his last few stops with Jimmy Garoppolo, Matt Ryan, Brian Hoyer (one year in Cleveland) and before that he worked with both Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins from their rookie seasons (2012) in Washington.

Nobody knows whether Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers are going to certainly take Mac Jones with that third overall pick, but again, where there is smoke…

Chris Mortensen of ESPN has said it. Chris Simms of NBC Sports and someone who is pals with Shanahan has said it. Daniel Jeremiah has said it.

Until there is smoke in a different direction, you can probably adjust your 2021 NFL mock drafts accordingly. The San Francisco 49ers may have fallen in love with Mac Jones, which will come as a huge shock to many in the NFL Draft community, but is it really much of a shock?

If we travel back in time for a moment to January and the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, it was clear that the hype for Jones among NFL people was building substantially.

There was a bunch of talk coming out of the Senior Bowl that Jones was not going to last past the Carolina Panthers with the 8th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Jones may not have the type of physical skill set that we see from guys like Justin Fields and Trey Lance but he is accurate, makes good decisions with the ball, can drop the ball in a bucket deep downfield, he makes good throws under pressure, and he has better pocket awareness than people seem to understand.

The San Francisco 49ers have the right type of infrastructure in place for Jones to succeed early on in the NFL. One of the biggest knocks against him is that he’s a product of the talent around him at Alabama, but Alabama doesn’t have any George Kittle catching passes at tight end. Alabama doesn’t have a $138 million left tackle like Trent Williams.

Alabama doesn’t have a defense featuring the likes of Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, among a number of other studs.

This 49ers team, when healthy, was the best in the NFC two seasons ago and their roster has arguably gotten much stronger.

The situation for Jones in San Francisco would be favorable. The offensive system would suit him. The 49ers, according to all of the reports and rumors that are currently out there, really like him.

Mac Jones at pick number three? It seems to have a better-than-good chance of actually happening.