After completing his second pro day, one orchestrated and run by Kyle Shanahan, the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields looks likely to come off the board with the third pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. As we are now just two weeks from the main event itself, Benjamin Allbright of KOA Denver reports that all of the smoke is pointing to the former Buckeye to become the next quarterback of the 49ers.
According to Fanduel, Fields is now also the betting favorite to land with the 49ers, jumping up to -125. Previously, the odds favored that of Mac Jones of Alabama, but it seems Vegas knows something similar to that of Allbright as well for the odds to shift as drastically as they have just two weeks out now.
In all honesty, it has been pretty apparent that it was Fields to the Niners all along despite the Jones drama and smoke.
Fields to 49ers has been likely all along
There is a significant level of belief that we have gotten to the point where we thought Shanahan, general manager John Lynch, and the Niners traded three first round picks to replace Jimmy Garoppolo with a guy with the ceiling of Jimmy Garoppolo. In any other year, Jones would not be worthy of being a first round pick (and still shouldn’t be this year), let alone be talented enough to trade up for.
If the Niners were confident to mortgage their immediate future, they knew they had to do it for a prospect with physical tools that were off the charts. The arm talent and mobility of Jones certainly do not fit this bill, narrowing it down to Fields and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance as Zach Wilson is expected to land with the New York Jets with the second overall pick in the draft.
Shanahan has been way too smart all along to bet his career on Jones. Pulling off an elaborate smokescreen thus far, it feels like the Niners no longer feel the need to hide their future plans any further as there is no team who can jump them with the Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars also looking to take their quarterbacks of the future.
Fields is a match made in Shanahan’s wide zone system, running the fewest run-pass option reps, a high amount of bootleg reps, and displaying an immense amount of accuracy to every level of the field. Get ready for Fields in the Bay Area and for Fields to wield the outside zone offense at a high level for the 49ers.