49ers NFL Draft: Kyle Shanahan says it was Trey Lance all along

Kyle Shanahan had everybody thinking the 49ers were going to select Mac Jones, but he was going to pick Trey Lance with the third overall pick all along.

After a long month of speculation of whom the San Francisco 49ers would select with the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Niners selected quarterback Trey Lance from North Dakota State University.

This might have come as a surprise to almost every draft analyst around the league who was positive San Francisco would select now-New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones instead.

Shanahan had been linked to Jones all around the league simply because Jones fits the mold of quarterbacks Shanahan has worked with including the Minnesota Vikings’ Kurt Cousins and Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Niners traded up originally to draft Jones, yet Lance narrowed the decision, and the weekend before the draft, San Francisco had no clue who it was going to pick.

Well, Shanahan and general manager John Lynch knew exactly what they were doing when they shocked the league and traded up to No. 3 overall. And if everyone thought Jones was Shanahan’s guy, the 49ers’ post-Round 1 press conference revealed otherwise.

John Lynch & Kyle Shanahan 2021 Draft Day 1

Lynch & Shanahan LIVE after drafting Trey Lance.#NFLDraft on NFLN & Draft-A-Thon on NFL.com

Posted by San Francisco 49ers on Thursday, April 29, 2021

When asked about Jones being the original draft pick, Shanahan said, “It’s not accurate. You can look back to January for the timeline. When we made the trade, we knew who we were getting.”

In the same interview, Shanahan and Lynch sad they weren’t going to work hard to change the narrative that everybody thought the Niners were taking Jones.

Pretty smart from the front office’s point of view.

The smokescreen payed off, and San Francisco got someone who, to use Shanahan’s previous words from before the NFL Draft, “throws like Drew Brees and runs like Lamar Jackson.”

Pro Football Talk’s Chris Simms had the 49ers selecting Jones with the third overall pick. Knowing Shanahan’s relationship and friendship with Simms, maybe Shanahan got some help from Simms to promote the smoke screen?

That’s probably not a likely scenario, but you never know what goes on with the Niners behind the scenes. They prefer to keep it that way.

Looking back on it now, you can get the sense Shanahan was talking about Lance the whole time. The Jackson/Brees comment seemed to rule out Jones because he is more of a traditional drop-back passer. Jones may fit Brees, but definitely not Jackson.

Regardless of all the speculation, Shanahan picked Lance as the guy to be the future of the 49ers. Lance has a cannon for an arm and can take off with his legs while also being accurate on the run, smart with the football and potentially having the highest ceiling out of any quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft. And he’s gong to be following the greatness of legends like Hall of Famers Y.A. Tittle, Steve Young and Joe Montana.

More importantly, though, Lance is in the best position to succeed. With many Niners players returning from injury, he will surely add to a stacked 49ers team ready to take on the league and compete for the playoffs now as opposed to going to a squad in the middle of a rebuild.

Shanahan and Co. have successfully fooled the entire NFL and snagged the quarterback expected to bring the Lombardi Trophy back home to the “Trey,” I mean “Bay Area.”