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The 49ers Reportedly Will Draft Mac Jones or Trey Lance

The 49ers still haven't made up their minds.

Grant Cohn

The 49ers still haven't made up their minds.

According to The NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, some in the organization -- presumably Kyle Shanahan -- want the 49ers to draft Mac Jones. While others in the organization -- presumably everyone other than Shanahan -- want the 49ers to draft Trey Lance.

"My understanding of the 49ers situation is they have narrowed their choice to two. If Trevor Lawrence goes No. 1 and Zach Wilson goes No. 2, the 49ers are right now either Alabama quarterback Mac Jones or North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance. Which means they're unlikely or certain to not take Justin Fields at No. 3.

"What the 49ers have done the past couple weeks and months is gather as much information as humanly possible on Lance and Jones, from college coaches to private coaches to family members. Everything. I don't know that they're still grinding tape, I think that part is probably done. This is about getting all the other information they can.

"I would also add that the 49ers are not going to make this public until they pick, which means they're not going to tell either party that they're the pick. So this mystery probably will last another few days."

Here are my three takeaways from this report.

1. I'm not surprised the 49ers will pass on Justin Fields.

He holds the ball a tick too long and is a questionable decision maker, just like Jimmy Garoppolo. I never thought the 49ers would want another quarterback with Garoppolo's shortcomings, even if that quarterback is a terrific athlete with a rocket arm.

2. I'm not surprised Kyle Shanahan wants Mac Jones.

Shanahan probably still thinks he would have beaten the Chiefs in the Super Bowl if Kirk Cousins was his quarterback, and Jones and Cousins have lots in common.

3. I think the 49ers will draft Trey Lance.

Instead of putting himself on the hot seat by making the most unpopular draft pick in franchise history, I think Shanahan will acquiesce to the scouting staff and let the 49ers draft Trey Lance. That way if Lance is a bust, Shanahan can say he never wanted him. And if Lance works out, Shanahan can take credit for developing him.

Win win.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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