49ers should still consider a quarterback on Day 3 of NFL Draft

While the 49ers will take a franchise-hopeful quarterback at No. 3 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, they should still explore adding a day-three QB, too.

Mere minutes into the opening round of the 2021 NFL Draft, San Francisco 49ers fans will finally know which quarterback general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan are pinning the hopes of the franchise on.

Be it Ohio State’s Justin Fields, Alabama’s Mac Jones or North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, it’ll be nice to see all the speculation finally come to an end and the actual forward-thinking analysis begin.

The Niners needed to add a quarterback in the draft anyway. But before their trade-up to No. 3 overall, the general consensus was one would be targeted somewhere between Rounds 3 and 7. Not in Round 1.

Despite the move, though, there’s plenty of reasoning behind adding another developmental-type quarterback on day three of the NFL Draft despite all focus being on the No. 3 overall pick.

Here’s why.

49ers shouldn’t automatically cross off adding a QB on Day 3 of the NFL Draft

San Francisco already bid farewell to two-thirds of its Week 1 quarterback room from last year, losing C.J. Beathard to the Jacksonville Jaguars while saying goodbye to Nick Mullens, too.

That leaves quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to “welcome” in a rookie first-round pick.

Garoppolo has his reasons to stay, and the 49ers have reasons to keep him for another year. Yet that opens up the likelihood of a media circus in 2021. Anytime Garoppolo has a bad game, suffers an injury or whatever, reporters are going to press Shanahan about when he’ll start Rookie X.

It’s possible Garoppolo will want out from all of that or already does. You’d have to ask him. And maybe the Niners want to clear that chance anyway, letting some of the dust settle from the draft before making a trade.

Let’s assume San Francisco moves or wants to move Garoppolo this offseason. That would leave a Round 1 rookie, Josh Rosen, Josh Johnson and Nate Sudfeld to round out the quarterback room.

Sudfeld, earning nearly $1 million from the 49ers this season, should make the 53-man roster based on the $252,000 in guaranteed money he’s set to earn. It’s likely the 49ers are prioritizing him over either Rosen or Johnson at this point, and Rosen isn’t guaranteed at all to make the cut even with his “I’m a former first-round pick” accolade.

Finding and drafting a day-three rookie quarterback would make a lot of sense in that regard. Sure, he’d probably be relegated to inactive status on a weekly basis, assuming Garoppolo is gone, and both Sudfeld and a first-round rookie were the two ones active.

Some of the day-three names to watch would be:

• Jamie Newman, Georgia
• Sam Ehlinger, Texas
• K.J. Costello, Mississippi State
• Ian Book, Notre Dame

A developmental quarterback can turn into an asset down the road. This was the case with Mullens after 2018 when he performed admirably enough late in the year and even generated some trade interest from around the league not long afterward.

Perhaps the 49ers should have moved on that when they had the chance before Mullens flamed out in 2020.

Either way, the thought of grabbing another quarterback between Rounds 4 through 7 should be something on the team’s mind, especially considering the Niners currently have five picks spread through those four rounds.

Day three of the 2021 NFL Draft kicks off on Saturday, May 1.