- Justin Fields is still the favorite to be the No. 3 pick in next month’s NFL draft, but Mac Jones (+180) has gained ground
- 49ers traded three first-round picks to move up to No. 3 last week
- San Francisco’s brass is scheduled to attend Jones’ pro day this week
It’s no secret that the Jacksonville Jaguars will make Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence the No. 1 overall pick in next month’s NFL Draft. Of course, we’ve known that ever since the Jags clinched the top pick at the end of last season. Urban Meyer doesn’t come out of retirement to coach a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars unless Lawrence is coming to town.
After Lawrence hears his name called, however, the fun will begin. This year’s draft class is rife with quality quarterbacking talent. As usual, there are plenty of teams in the league desperate to get their hands on a franchise signal-caller. While Ohio State’s Justin Fields has been viewed as the No. 2 QB in the class behind Lawrence for months, it’s no lock that Fields winds up going second overall. BYU’s Zach Wilson is right there with Fields in most mock drafts.
In Fact, There Is One Other QB Suddenly Skyrocketing up Draft Boards
That would be none other than Alabama QB Mac Jones, who played his way into the Heisman Trophy conversation last season. Jones wasn’t even expected to be taken within the first four rounds of the draft as recently as last season. Now, though, there is a chance that Jones will be one of the first QBs off the board next month.
Last week, the San Francisco 49ers made the surprising decision to trade up to the No. 3 spot. San Francisco said publicly at the time that Jimmy Garoppolo will still be “their guy” next season, but teams don’t typically make trades like that unless they’re planning on making a splash. The Niners parted ways with their own first-rounder this year (No. 12), a third-round compensatory pick, and first-rounders in 2022 and 2023 to move up nine spots in a deal with the Dolphins last week.
Where Will SF Go At No. 3?
Everybody knows that the Jets are likely to nab a QB of their own with the No. 2 pick. New York spent most of last year as the league’s worst team, but the Jets won enough games down the stretch to fall past the Jaguars into the No. 2 draft slot. Wilson is a -500 favorite to be the No. 2 pick in the draft, while Fields’ odds have fallen to +600.
Fields is now listed at +160 to go No. 3 overall, but Jones’ odds of going third have risen dramatically. Jones has been viewed as a likely first-round draft pick since the end of last season, but his stock has continued to trend upward since then. Jones is now listed at +180 to be picked third, and the odds will likely shorten from here.
The 49ers can say whatever they want about Garoppolo, but the clock is clearly ticking on his time in the Bay Area. Garoppolo has been one of the highest-paid players in the entire league since the Niners traded for him back in 2017. While he nearly led San Francisco to a Super Bowl title two years ago, he was limited to just six games last season.
The team rode a run-first offense and a quality defense to the brink of a title, and it’s clear at this point that the team’s brass has decided to move in another direction. Garoppolo may open next season as the QB1, but whomever the team takes at No. 3 is clearly the future at the position.
49ers Favoring Jones Over Fields?
NBC reported over the weekend that the 49ers’ brass isn’t even attending Fields’ pro day this week. Head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch will instead be heading to Jones’ pro day, which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday. The Niners will still send a contingent of personnel to Fields’ pro day, but the fact that the primary decision-makers will choose to watch Jones instead speaks volumes about what they are planning with the third overall pick.
Mac Jones threw last week at Alabama Pro Day I. He’ll throw again tomorrow at Alabama Pro Day II — and Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch will attend Jones’ workout instead of Justin Fields’ session at Ohio State. https://t.co/WQAZFFdpFc
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 29, 2021
The Niners have engaged in some pre-draft gamesmanship in the past, but there is an awful lot of smoke gathering around Jones. Jones started every game for the Crimson Tide last season as a junior. He completed 77.4 percent of his throws for 4,500 yards with 41 touchdowns to just four interceptions while leading Alabama to yet another national championship.
Jones wound up finishing as the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy behind teammate DeVonta Smith. While Smith is expected to be one of the first wide receivers off the board on draft night, it seems at this point as though Jones will be the one to hear his name called first.
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …
