4 positions 49ers can wait to address in 2021 NFL Draft

No. 3: Quarterback — depending what 49ers want to do with Jimmy Garoppolo

If San Francisco truly wants to move on from its starting quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, passing on a rookie signal-caller is clearly the last thing Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch want to do.

But the latest buzz points to the 49ers sticking with Jimmy G, at least for another season, which pushes the notion this position is of the highest priority down a bit.

Heck, perhaps into day three of the NFL Draft.

Should this be the case, it doesn’t change the fact quarterback is a position of need for the Niners. After all, backups Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard are both hitting free agency, and San Francisco would be wise to target upgrades over both of them anyway.

This year’s draft class is awfully top-heavy with a significant drop-off from the big four — Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, BYU’s Zach Wilson, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance — to second-tier quarterbacks like Alabama’s Mac Jones and Florida’s Kyle Trask.

From there, it’s almost a matter of unknown preference.

The 49ers could take a flier on a dual-threat presence like Texas A&M’s Kellen Mond, who received Senior Bowl MVP accolades earlier this year. Or perhaps someone like Stanford’s Davis Mills catches Lynch’s eye, too.

Either way, the Niners don’t have to overreach for a QB if they don’t want to.