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San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan doesn’t seem like someone who cares about outside noise, but at least one opposing coach thinks the team’s decision to select Trey Lance in the 2021 NFL draft was driven by fan pressure.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, an offensive coach on an NFC team believes the 49ers were “100 percent taking” Mac Jones at No. 3 overall “until they saw their fanbase [overreact].”
One month before the 2021 draft, the 49ers sent three first-round picks and a third-round pick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for the No. 3 overall selection.
NBC Sports’ Peter King wrote prior to the draft that Shanahan “believes Jones is the accurate coach-on-the-field type he craves.”
The NFC coach’s comment is interesting because King noted in the same article that Shanahan and general manager John Lynch “won’t care what order the draftniks have the quarterbacks, or any position.”
King cited San Francisco’s 2017 draft board that had Solomon Thomas and Reuben Foster as the Nos. 2 and 3 overall players, behind only Myles Garrett.
Amid rumors that Jones was the 49ers’ preferred choice, fans of the team didn’t exactly respond with enthusiasm.
In September, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported “one of the many reasons” San Francisco made the move was the belief that the New England Patriots could trade up to No. 3 to draft Jones.
“The 49ers considered the well-documented relationship between Bill Belichick and Nick Saban and knew that New England was doing legwork on the quarterback prospects in the draft,” Schefter wrote.
Shanahan and Lynch seemed to take pleasure in keeping which quarterback they preferred a closely guarded secret.
Per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, neither Lynch nor Shanahan “explicitly” told the other which quarterback they preferred six days before the draft.
Lynch said he told Shanahan the decision would be up to him. Shanahan eventually told him Monday, three days before the first round.
“Man, I didn’t know, Coach,” Lance told Shanahan on the phone when the quarterback was informed the 49ers were selecting him, per Maiocco. “You wouldn’t tell me nothing.”
It still remains to be seen if the 49ers made the right decision. Jones had a promising rookie season with the Patriots, who didn’t have to move off the No. 15 pick to select him. He led New England to the postseason, throwing for 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns to finish second in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting.
Lance spent most of his rookie season learning behind Jimmy Garoppolo. The 22-year-old showed promise with 603 passing yards, 168 rushing yards and accounted for six touchdowns in six games (two starts).
