With The First Pick
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San Francisco 49ers Blown Away by DeShone Kizer

By Carl Cockerham

Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer (14) throws a pass against the Southern California Trojans during a NCAA football game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer (14) throws a pass against the Southern California Trojans during a NCAA football game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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GM John Lynch and HC Kyle Shanahan don’t have to a QB so far this year. And they were blown away by DeShone Kizer in NFL Scouting Combine interviews.

I’ve been telling all that would listen that DeShone Kizer is this year’s the best QB prospect. This isn’t the best QB class in the world and I’m not sure there’s one that’s ready to play. But if there is one, it’s Kizer as he is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest.

Many believe Mitch Trubisky is that guy but he is nowhere near ready. For starters, Trubisky is a one-year college starter and statistics are overwhelmingly against such QBs being ready. And like DeShaun Watson, he’s never called plays in the huddle while in college.

There’s a lot of verbiage involved in NFL offenses so there will be a large adjustment. Plus both QBs had issues with their accuracy down the field last year. Not that Kizer is perfect, but he played more like an NFL QB than the other two put together.

He comes from Brian Kelly’s pro style offense so he’ll understand the verbiage and concepts. That’s important because HC Kyle Shanahan’s playbook is complex with lots of verbiage. So there are concerns about the difficulty a rookie QB would have because of it.

But so far at the NFL Scouting Combine, he’s blowing HC Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch away. Lynch expressed as much at a combine media session on NFL Network.

He said, “This whole thing is not just about an interview, but if you were grading him on that alone, he blew the doors off. He’s an impressive young man, his film’s very impressive.”

To go along with the pro football acumen he has, he measured in at 6’4.5″ 233 pounds. Kizer also has the best combination of size, athleticism and arm talent among the QB prospects. I’m still not sure the 49ers take a QB at No. 2 overall but if they do, I expect it to be Kizer.