Trey Day - 49ers Rock NFL Draft with pick of young QB

The 2021 NFL Draft is officially in the books. With pick numbers 1 and 2 being a foregone conclusion by the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets, respectively, all the buzz heading into the draft surrounded who would go No. 3 overall to the San Francisco 49ers. With their lips sealed tightly, head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch went into the 49ers war room on draft day having not even shared their decision with the rest of their coaching staff, as they were left having to guess like the rest of us. Sworn in secrecy, the clandestine meetings between Shanahan and Lynch were like something out of a scene from Disney's National Treasure as they kept the name of their future franchise quarterback and the player who will without question determine their legacy in San Francisco, under wraps and in a vault as if it were the recipe to Coca-Cola or KFC's famous fried chicken. Receiving a mixed reaction by the media and the league for trading the 12th overall pick as well as first round picks in each of the next two years to Miami for the third overall pick, everyone had their ears to the ground and their eyes on the TV come time for San Francisco's mysterious pick after Trevor Lawrence and Zack Wilson heard their names called first. With rumors of the pick being any one of Alabama's Mac Jones, Ohio State's Justin Fields or North Dakota State's Trey Lance, it was Lance who's name was called when it was all said and done. 

Looked at as being a project at the QB position, Shanahan and company plan to take the same approach with Lance as the Kansas City Chiefs did with Patrick Mahomes when they traded up to take him with the 10th overall pick in 2017 before handing him a clipboard to watch and learn from the sidelines for a season behind Alex Smith. Speaking of Alex Smith, Lance is the first 49ers quarterback to be selected in the first round since Smith was chosen first overall in 2005. As risky as the pick might've been considering all that San Francisco sent to Miami in return, the decision to draft someone as raw as Lance might be worth the gamble given he possesses arguably the highest ceiling in this entire draft class and his upside could rival that of Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence. Despite the one-game season at NDSU this past college football season, a season that was cut short due to the pandemic, Lance has not lost a game since High School, as he finished his college career by going 17-0 as a starter and threw for 30 touchdowns to only 1 interception, while rushing for another 18 scores. But as unblemished as his career was with the Bison, some pundits have their doubts and have pointed to the limited reps and small amount of games played as we've only seen a small sample size for a guy the 49ers deemed worthy of the third overall pick. 

Described as a perfect fit for Kyle Shanahan's offensive system, Lance has the athleticism and run ability to compliment his cannon of an arm, which will keep teams on their toes when running play-action. The Niners are hoping incumbent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has a resurgence season in 2021, much like Aaron Rodgers did with Green Bay last season when he saw his team draft a QB in the first round, only for him to go berserk and play his way to an MVP award. Under contract for the next two seasons, the 49ers can ill-afford banking on Jimmy G's health beyond this year as he has started only 30 games in four seasons since being traded to SF. 

Day 2 of the Draft saw the 49ers make a number of trades up and down the draft board, including one with the Las Vegas Raiders to move back from pick No. 43 to the No. 48 spot, which they used to take Notre Dame guard Aaron Banks in the second round. In the same trade, San Francisco would send a 7th-round pick to the Raiders in exchange for a fourth-round pick -- 121st overall. The Niners would then flip the fourth-round pick acquired from the Raiders as well as their own 4th-rounder to the Los Angeles Rams for the 88th pick which San Francisco would use on Ohio State running back Trey Sermon. With their second and final 3rd-round selection (pick 102), the 49ers would finally add to their defense with Michigan cornerback Ambry Thomas. San Francisco would kickoff Day 3 by adding more depth to the offensive-line as they made Western Michigan offensive-tackle Jaylon Moore their pick at 155, before adding another corner in Oregon's Deommodore Lenoir with the 172nd pick. They would round out their trio of 5th-round picks by nabbing USC safety Talanoa Hufanga (pick 180). After trading their seventh-round pick, the 49ers would make Lousiana running back Elijah Mitchell their final pick of the draft at pick No. 194 of the 6th-round. 

With no running backs under contract following the upcoming 2021-22 NFL season, Niners brass decided to plan for the future by drafting a pair of running backs by taking one on days 2 and 3 in Sermon and Mitchell. After exploding for a Big Ten record with 331 yards on 29 carries for the Buckeyes in their Big Ten Championship win over Northwestern, it'll be exciting to see what Sermon can do in coach Shanahan's system. Having already established one of the better tandems along the offensive-line anchored by Pro Bowl tackle Trent Williams, San Francisco continued to beef up their o-line with a pair of big bodies in Banks and Moore. Finally, the defensive secondary was bolstered with some much needed depth as Thomas, Lenoir and Hufanga should all get a crack at earning some playing time whether on defense or on special-teams. Thought to be in on a wide-receiver in the draft, the 49ers surprisingly did not draft a receiver, but did manage to sign the undrafted Austin Watkins -- receiver out of UAB. Other undrafted players to sign with the 49ers included tight-end Josh Pederson out of Louisiana Monroe and linebackers Justin Hilliard of Ohio State and Elijah Sullivan of Kansas. 

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