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49ers could’ve had Mac Jones instead of draft bust Trey Lance — now Kyle Shanahan gets his QB originally appeared on The Sporting News
The San Francisco 49ers were one of the teams who entered the 2021 NFL Draft in need of a quarterback.
In the end, head coach Kyle Shanahan narrowed it down to two guys who he really wanted: Trey Lance, and Mac Jones.
The 49ers chose to trade up for Lance at No. 2 overall. Jones ended up sliding to No. 15 to the New England Patriots.
Four years later, Shanahan has his guy. Jones will start this weekend and probably longer as QB Brock Purdy deals with a multi-week toe injury.
MORE: Mac Jones' stats, record as a starter
Could the 49ers have drafted Mac Jones?
Reports during the 2021 draft season had the 49ers tied to Lance and Jones, and Shanahan actually admitted as much on a podcast in 2022 when discussing their trade up to the No. 3 overall selection to draft a quarterback.
“We did the trade so early that it made me feel good about it," Shanahan said. "I knew before we did it how I felt about the quarterbacks and how good we would be to take them at 12. There were two that I really wanted... Mac Jones and Trey [Lance]. Those were the two guys that we were locked in on from the beginning.”
Jones wound up sliding to the No. 15 overall selection by the New England Patriots.
He played three seasons with the Pats, compiling an 18-24 record as a starter. A 10-7 rookie season quickly turned into two underwhelming follow-up efforts.
That led to Jones' move to Jacksonville for 2024, where he backed up Trevor Lawrence but wound up starting seven games and going 2-5 with eight touchdown passes and eight interceptions.
Now, Jones is the backup to Mr. Irrelevant, Purdy, in San Francisco. Except Purdy is hurt, and now it's Jones' time.
Just like Shanahan drew it up years ago.
MORE: How Brock Purdy's injury affects fantasy football action for Mac Jones, Ricky Pearsall
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