Why the 49ers Quarterback Preference is Constantly Changing
The 49ers are assuredly going to take Mac Jones with the third pick.
Well, maybe not so much anymore?
There has been such a constant back-and-forth from national media members about who exactly the 49ers are going to take. For instance, Adam Schefter once said that "it'll be Jones" taken by the 49ers at No.3. Now he is saying that Jones is the "preference," but are keeping "an open mind" at No. 3.
A lot of backpedaling going on here and Schefter isn't the only one. Either he is being fed different information by the 49ers, or he is just looking to drive talking points to build up suspense for the NFL Draft on April 29.
I wouldn't rule out that the 49ers are feeding Schefter and other pundits dummy information, but I am going to lean with the building-suspense side.
In every draft the 49ers have been in with Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, they have never once tipped their hand on what their motives are. They are arguably the most secretive organization in the league. The fact that they had been conducting trade talks for seven weeks before moving up to the third pick without anyone reporting it gives credence to that
Even when it seemed obvious the 49ers would take Nick Bosa in 2019, there was still a scenario playing out that they might end up with Quinnen Williams. The point is that the 49ers do not leak information and if they do it is calculated. Before the 49ers had traded up to No. 3, no draft analyst had Jones being taken in the top-10 of their mock drafts. All of a sudden he shot up because they "know" that the 49ers will take him?
Hogwash!
All of this is to continue to make the buildup for the NFL Draft on April 29 legendary. Quarterbacks are the driving force of the league, so of course the NFL wants to drive up the stock of Jones and make it seem like five quarterbacks will be taken top-five.
No one knows what the 49ers are up to. They very seldomly leave breadcrumbs like when it was reported about Matthew Stafford and Teddy Bridgewater interest.
But in the end, everyone is closing their eyes throwing darts at a board they can't see.
