Trey Lance, Mac Jones or Justin Fields?

Six experts debate what is the best option to become the quarterback of the future for the San Francisco 49ers with the third overall pick in the NFL 2021 Draft

SANTA CLARA – Of the many decisions taken by the general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan since they took the reins of the San Francisco 49ers, none exceeds what awaits them on April 29.

After concretizing an exchange to ascend in the order of selections of the Draft 2021, the Niners they will invest the No. 3 overall pick to choose their next franchise quarterback. The question now is,which of all?

“San Francisco had made the decision to move up from 12 to 3 with the idea that Trevor Lawrence i Zach Wilson they will be gone, “the analyst at NFL draft per ESPN, Todd McShay. “Something may change, but you are John Lynch i Kyle Shanahan, You have to make a decision to ascend with this presumption. We are really talking about Trey Lance, North Dakota, Mac Jones of Alabama i Justin Fields of Ohio State“.

With that in mind, we surveyed six talented evaluators to get an idea of ​​what will influence the decision to San Francisco.

We classify the quarterbacks

Matt Bowen, NFL analyst for ESPN / former NFL defensive back:

1. Fields, 2. Spear, 3. Jones

“If I’m going to choose within the first five rounds, I want a prospect with front-line skills and front-line physical tools,” he said. Bowen. “The best accommodation [para Fields] is in an intermediate pass game that attacks the center of the field and uses its ability to move with career tricks and carries designed for the quarterback and vertical throws. Now, who reminds you of that? It would fit in very well. “

June Jones, former NFL head coach / instructor at CoachTube.com:

1. Jones 2. Fields 3. Spear

“The boy from Alabama it could be the best of the whole draft, ”he said June Jones about Mac Jones. “Everyone will say, ‘Well, he played just a year.’ Well, what do you think? Go see him play this year and you’ll see what they’re going to get.”

Mel Kiper Jr., NFL Draft analyst for ESPN:

1. Fields 2. Jones 3. Spear

“Skills, I think Camps it’s the most gifted, ”he explained Porter. “On skills, it can be argued that he is as good a quarterback as he is in this draft.”

Greg McElroy, ESPN football analyst / former NFL quarterback:

1. Jones 2. Spear 3. Fields

“It would be all three relatively close,” he said McElroy. “The distance between Zach [Wilson] i Mac is greater than the distance between Mac i Justin Fields“.

McShay:

1. Spear 2. Fields 3. Jones

“When you study the video from Lance, There are a lot of professional style offensive things and it processes things quickly, ”he stated McShay. “It’s just the kind of guy you want in the quarterback position in terms of showing up every day and offering you everything you have.”

JT O’Sullivan, former NFL quarterback / creator of the Youtube channel, “QB School”:

1. Fields 2. Spear 3. Jones

“They would all fit well,” he expressed O’Sullivan. “I suppose it would be Camps. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Trey Lance. If it is Mac Jones“Then they have a different understanding of what the organization requires than me as someone outside.”

We study in quarterbacks

Justin Fields, Ohio

6 feet with 3 inches | 227 pounds | 22 collegiate beginnings

Key statistics: Over the last couple of seasons, 52 percent of shipments of Camps resulted in a first attempt, the highest rate in the FBS among quarterbacks who played in at least 10 games. Her total QBR in third place was 90.0, the best among any of the top five prospects in the quarterback position for the Draft 2021.

Bowen: “He is a precise and determined passer who has the ability to threaten deep with his ball placement. What stands out most watching watching is his accuracy in deep passes. He has high level athletic skills, both inside and out of pocket. It’s super competitive and tough. Fight. “

McElroy: “He has a tendency sometimes to stare at his open receiver and doesn’t have the kind of anticipation I’d like to see in him. Now, he has an arm powerful enough to compensate for that at the collegiate level, but I’m not sure he’ll be able to make up for it, at least early in his career, at the NFL“.

O’Sullivan: “It’s a prototype of what the league has become with a great athlete holding the most important position. You can create, you can extend, you can run, and you can complete all throws in and out of numbers, field down … Some ball deliveries seemed like he was trying to do too much.This kind of thing will get you in trouble on Sundays.These are things that certainly have solution.But the ability to make plays, the dynamic athlete, what he achieves doing it with its size is just special. “

McShay: “He tends to stick with his primary goal. And part of that, is that he likes to see how the receiver stands out, so I think he has to adapt to a system of NFL in terms of processing from the first progression to the second to the third more quickly, and anticipating releases where he doesn’t see how the receiver stands out. It will be an adjustment, but of the three, he has the best physical tools. “

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Mac Jones, Alabama

6 feet with 3 inches | 214 pounds | 17 collegiate beginnings

Key statistics: the total QBR of Jones of 96.1 for 2020 was the highest for any quarterback in the 17 seasons the metric has been used, surpassing the mark it previously had Kyler Murray of Oklahoma (95.4) of 2018.

Jones: “His accuracy in the deep pass could be the best I’ve qualified in 30 years. I don’t think anyone has completed the low field percentages beyond 25 yards that this guy has achieved … The kind of passes that Mac throws at these receivers, they could be running cross paths, deep, the ball is always about 18 inches in front of the receiver, and they don’t need to work to stay with the ovoid. That’s where the accuracy is different. “

Bowen: “Here’s what we lose sight of, and I do too: we focus too much on the ability of a second reaction and movement, which I think are so important, I really think we need to have that in the NFL of today, but if you can’t perform routine passes consistently, it doesn’t matter. If you can’t read the field and make consistent passes from your pocket, everything else is just hard to win games when you can’t throw and win from your pocket. Mac Jones can throw from the pocket, can throw in advance placement, I think it processes well. It doesn’t have a huge arm, but it can anticipate these windows and throw with placement, and it will be a waste of time and pace, something you need if you’re going to be on the offensive of Kyle Shanahan. From the deception of running, his supporting foot touches the ground and the ball has already come out. You have to have the ability to anticipate where the ball will be thrown to find that window Kyle is creating for you within the path scheme “.

McShay: “Just sitting with him a couple of times to chat, and then chatting with [el entonces coordinador ofensivo de Alabama] Steve Sarkisian three times this year to prepare for matches, Sark he told me he installed more for Mac Jones of what he has installed for any college quarterback. Given the history of Sark, That says a lot … I think you would love to Kyle have that mind on your quarterback. A kind of extension of the coaches and all the things you can install. They are built to win very soon, and there will be no such learning curve or fit with it. Now, there are physical limitations, so you’re not getting athletic. You have to be able to lead it to success through your scheme. “

O’Sullivan: “I think when you generalized from here, the teams are trying to protect your performance on Sundays, and I don’t know how we can look at a prospect like Justin Fields and think ‘Well, your roof is the same as your roof Mac Jones‘. We may disagree, but my opinion is that Justin Fields has the ability to be a little more consistent in creating plays and is able to do things that Mac Jones he just can’t do it. “

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Trey Lance, North Dakota

6 feet with 4 inches | 226 pounds | 17 collegiate beginnings

Key statistics: In 2019, Lance threw 287 passes without an interception. Since 2000, he is the only quarterback division I to attempt more than 200 submissions in a campaign without being intercepted.

McShay: “Lance it’s probably the biggest projection of the three, because it comes from the level FCS and has just 17 starts, with only one game last year. But all three have areas where they need to improve. with Lance, Is its accuracy. It is not always easy to correct. But, as we have seen with a type like Josh AllenWhen you have the mobility to spread plays and create with your feet … this adds a whole new element to the offensive … We have certainly seen some improvement with Josh Allen“But you have to improve the level of consistency of your footwork in order to be more consistent with the placement of your passes.”

Porter: “If you are looking for double threat, I would take a Camps before a Lance. I don’t understand the fascination with Lance. I understand he got big numbers, but he did it in the face of bad competition, I think he deserves to be in the Top-10, but if you talk about putting him before someone who played in State of Ohio and faced elite rivals, played a semifinal against Lawrence and overcame it, this guy played against Central Arkansas and he didn’t do well throwing the ball. I have a Lance in my Top-10, but I don’t have it ahead of me Camps“.

McElroy: “I think that Trey Lance has a bit of Josh Allen in it, and is part of the reason it intrigues me as a prospect. I like Trey Lance, I just think it lacks a lot to polish. But, one can argue the case that he has a high ceiling like who he is in this draft if things work out. That’s what I thought about Josh Allen, But did not believe that Josh Allen he was as athletic as he is … I think he was a man among kids at the level where he played, and of course, he did it on a kind of stellar team, but the same argument can be made with Jones i Camps. … Its potential is really intriguing. He can move and has great fluidity in his game. Obviously it has the raw power horsepower that few have … Something of the progression stuff, I didn’t see as many problems with the progressions as I saw with Camps“.

Jones: “I like him as an athlete. Until you get to a pass system, he can make a few plays now, he can run, he can throw, his percentage of complete passes wasn’t very high because of the kind of offense he was in. , but I think it’s one of those types where you used to invest in a third- to fifth-round selection, and it could and can develop. “