Trey Lances draft revisited JaMarr Chase Micah Parsons 6 other stars 49ers couldve picked instead
Trey Lances draft revisited JaMarr Chase Micah Parsons 6 other stars 49ers couldve picked instead
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The 49ers were one of the teams that made a big move to land a quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft. It didn't quite work out. San Francisco traded up from the 12th pick to the No. 3 selection with its eyes on one of the five first-round quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft. It was known that Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson were unlikely to make it to their pick, so they were choosing among Trey Lance, Justin Fields and Mac Jones. Lance ultimately became the selection because of his unique combination of arm strength, athleticism and raw talent. He had hardly played at FCS school North Dakota State, but the thought was that if he could develop at the NFL level, he could eventually become a star. The 49ers bought into that hype and seemed like a good situation for Lance. After all, they had Jimmy Garoppolo under contract, so Lance would be able to learn behind him for a year or two until he was ready to start. That never quite came. Lance made four starts with the 49ers, but he struggled to stay healthy and could only watch from the sidelines as Brock Purdy staked his claim to the starting job. During the 2023 offseason, Lance was outplayed by Sam Darnold, so the 49ers offloaded him to the Cowboys in exchange Pau Gasol Jersey for a mid-round pick just two seasons after taking him with the third pick. MORE: The 49ers' strategy in targeting a quarterback can't nece sarily be faulted, but it's hard to ignore their whiff because of Lance's short tenure with the team. That is further complicated by the plethora of high-quality players who were selected in the immediate aftermath of the Lance choice. There were a lot of quality players selected after Trey Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft.Eight first-round picks chosen after Lance were Pro Bowl selections while two first-rounders were named AP All-Pros during the first two seasons of their careers. So, who did the 49ers pa s on with the No. 3 selection? They can be given a pa s for the non-first-round talents who have panned out, but they did pa s on plenty of high-quality first-round talents. Below is alook at the full results of the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. 2021 NFL Draft results Pick Team Player 1 Jacksonville Jaguars Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson 2 New York Jets Zach Wilson, QB, BYU 3 San Francisco 49ers Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State 4 Atlanta Falcons Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida 5 Cincinnati Bengals Ja'Marr Chase, WR, LSU 6 Miami Dolphins Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama 7 Detroit Lions Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon 8 Carolina Panthers Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina 9 Denver Broncos Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama 10 Philadelphia Eagles DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama 11 Chicago Bears Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State 12 Dallas Cowboys Micah Parsons, EDGE, Penn State 13 Los Angeles Chargers Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern 14 New York Jets Alijah Vera-Tucker, OL, USC 15 New England Patriots Mac Jones, QB, Patriots 16 Arizona Cardinals Zaven Collins, LB, Cardinals 17 Las Vegas Raiders Alex Leatherwood, OT, Alabama 18 Miami Dolphins Jaelan Phillips, EDGE, Miami 19 Washington Football Team Jamin Davis, LB, Kentucky 20 New York Giants Kadarius Toney, WR, Florida 21 Indianapolis Colts Kwity Paye, EDGE, Michigan 22 Tenne see Titans Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech 23 Minnesota Vikings Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech 24 Pittsburgh Steelers Najee Harris, RB, Alabama 25 Jacksonville Jaguars Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson 26 Cleveland Browns Greg Newsome II, CB, Northwestern 27 Baltimore Ravens Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota 28 New Orleans Saints Payton Turner, EDGE, Houston 29 Green Bay Packers Eric Stokes, CB, Georgia 30 Buffalo Bills Gregory Rou seau, EDGE, Miami 31 Baltimore Ravens Odafe Oweh, EDGE, Penn State 32 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, EDGE, Washington When looking at the other first-round talents who were chosen after Lance, there are a handful who stand out as players who would have been better selections for the 49ers. Below is a look at the eight biggest first-round standouts the 49ers mi sed on in choosing Lance at No. 3 overall. Ja'Marr Chase Round:1 Overall pick: 5 College:LSU Team:Bengals The 49ers landed Chase in our 2021 NFL re-draft, and it's scary to imagine what the San Francisco offense would look like with him as a part of it. Chase would add yet another potent, No. 1 wide-out threat to an offense that already features a quality stable of weapons in Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey. Chase starred as a part of LSU's 2020 College Football Playoff-winning team, recording 84 catches for 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns as Joe Burrow's top receiver. He sat out the 2020 college football season due to the COVID-19 pandemic but still did enough to be a top-five pick by Burrow's Bengals. Chase has averaged 98 catches for 1,466 yards and 13 touchdowns per 17 games played at the NFL level. Perhaps he would be a bit le s productive without Burrow and as a part of a stacked 49ers offense, but even so, he would probably be San Francisco's most talented receiver. That would make him a perennial 1,000-yard receiver as he has been in Cincinnati. Micah Parsons Round:1 Overall pick: 12 College:Penn State Team:Cowboys The Cowboys were able to select Parsons with the 12th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. That was the original pick that the 49ers owned in this cla s, so the fact that the team mi sed out on him will sting just a bit extra. Parsons would add another elite pa s rusher to a 49ers defense that already features Nick Bosa. The idea of those two pairing together as two of the top-five pa s rushers in the NFL would strike fear into offensive coordinators everywhere. Like Chase, Parsons skipped the 2020 season due to COVID but was still an early first-round pick. He was originally used as a linebacker but he moved to the edge full-time for his second season. Parsons' speed and explosion off the line have made him a big-time pa s-rushing threat and he has recorded 29.5 sacks in 35 career NFL games to date. Jaylen Waddle Round:1 Overall pick: 6 College:Alabama Team:Dolphins Waddle is another receiver the 49ers could have considered picking here. They tried to add speed to their offense in 2022 when they spent a third-round pick on SMU's Danny Green, but they wouldn't have had to add him if they had spent the No. 3 Clyde Drexler Jersey pick on Waddle. Waddle was one of the fastest players in college football at Alabama. He was on pace to have a ma sive season in 2020 before an ankle injury knocked him out for the remainder of the season. At the NFL level, Waddle has averaged 13.2 yards per reception and was the league leader in yards per catch in 2022 with 18.1. He has gone over 1,000 receiving yards in each of his two NFL seasons thus far and would add another element to the 49ers' already explosive element. DeVonta Smith Round:1 Overall pick: 10 College: Alabama Team:Eagles Yes, the 2021 NFL Draft wasat the receiver position. Chase, Waddle and Smith were all top-10 picks and all have become high-quality receivers at the NFL level. Smith was the third selected of the bunch, but he produced a Heisman-winning season in 2020, catching 117 catches, 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns for Alabama. He is a smooth, route-running maven with the speed needed to take the top off defenses. It would be very hard for teams to cover the 49ers with a trio of Smith, Aiyuk and Samuel. Kyle Pitts Round:1 Overall pick: 4 College: Florida Team:Falcons Pitts recorded a 1,003-yard season as a rookie but he hasn't taken a step forward since then. He has stagnated as part of a run-dominant Falcons offense, which isn't making proper use of his talent, which was deemed as generational at the tight end position. Pitts would be a luxury pick for the 49ers, but he's one that they could afford to make. The idea of pairing his athleticism with George Kittle's all-around game would give Kyle Shanahan even more versatility within his already strong offensive system. Penei Sewell Round:1 Overall pick: 7 College:Oregon Team:Lions There are plenty of sexy picks the 49ers could have made at No. 3, but opting for one of the top offensive tackles in the 2021 NFL Draft could have been a smart move. Mike McGlinchey left the team during the 2023 offseason, and Sewell would have been a high-end replacement for him. Sewell made 33 starts during his first two seasons with the Lions and earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2022 after his strong performance at right tackle. Sewell should continue to grow at the NFL level and should have the ability to play left tackle, too. That would allow him to serve as a potential succe sor to Trent Williams. Rashawn Slater Round:1 Overall pick: 13 College:Northwestern Team:Chargers Slater is the other top tackle the 49ers could have considered. He mi sed all but three games in 2022 with a torn biceps but as a rookie, he was an All-Pro second-teamer and finished fourth in the Offensive Rookie of the Year voting. It's rare for a rookie tackle to earn those types of accolades, but Slater was worthy of them. Slater could have started his career inside at guard before transitioning over to tackle to replace McGlinchey. He's smaller than Sewell at 6-3, 315 pounds, but he has proven that he can stay outside at the NFL level; and he has more potential for versatility, so perhaps he would have been a solid pick. Patrick Surtain Round:1 Overall pick: 9 College:Alabama Team:Broncos The 49ers have had a strong defense in recent years, but if they could stand to add high-end talent at one position, it would be cornerback. Surtain would qualify and pairing him with Charvarius Ward would help to further complete the San Francisco defense. Surtain logged six interceptions during his first two NFL seasons. That's tied for most in the 2021 NFL Draft cla s with second-round pick Tyson Campbell. Surtain has starred for the Broncos and it's easy to imagine him finding succe s with the 49ers as well. MORE: This remains the biggest "what if" for 49ers fans about the Lance selection. It's not just that they mi sed some elite talents by not moving up, but they also surrendered future a sets to go get Lance. Of course, had the team stayed put in the 2021 NFL Draft, it would have had the 12th overall pick. That would have positioned the 49ers to select Parsons in that year's draft. But additionally, the 49ers would have had their own first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 and an additional third-round pick in 2022. So, they would have four players on their roster instead of Lance. If those players were the exact ones selected at each spot, the 49ers would have the following on their roster: Year Round Pick Player 2021 1 12 Micah Parsons, EDGE, Penn State 2022 1 29 Cole Strange, OG, Chattanooga 2022 3 101 Channing Tindall, LB, Georgia 2023 1 29 Bryan Bresee, DT, Clemson Certainly, that would be afor the 49ers, especially considering how Parsons has performed to date. And even though Strange was a reach, Tindall hasn't played much and the jury is still out on Bresee, there's no denying that this collection of players would provide a ma sive boost to the 49ers. Of course, it's worth noting that there's no guarantee that the 49ers would have selected these players had they stayed put. It's just that they mi sed an opportunity to add depth and talent to their team in their decision to trade up and take Lance. This is the nature of the NFL draft. While NFL fans love to debate which players will be sure-fire succe ses and as much as people like to say that certain prospects are safe, the whole proce s is largely a crapshoot. There are many factors that go into evaluating whether a player will succeed at the next level, and only some of them are about on-field performance. As such, it's understandable why the 49ers wanted to take a swing on Lance. His upside was undeniable. It just didn't pan out, so San Francisco is facing a large opportunity cost from that whiff. That said, the team has also hit on many other later-round selections in recent drafts. The most notable of those is Brock Purdy, who the team made Mr. Irrelevant by selecting him with the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. That has helped the 49ers maintain their contender status. So, the 49ers aren't suffering too badly because of this mi s. Still, fans will be left to wonder what might have happened if San Francisco had made a different decision with its draft capital. Harry Gilles III Jersey
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