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San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan shared a press conference table on Monday in Santa Clara, and it was difficult for the two to hide their excitement following an exchange of bombs executed last week.
The 49ers, a team that played in the Super Bowl just over a year ago, dropped from 12th to third in next month’s rich quarterback draft. With a flagman with an unfortunate tendency to sustain major injuries as a leader, Lynch and Shanahan had just acquired a mulligan – if they wanted to.
Based on their collective responses, it appears to be and they are ready to strike.
“It’s a risk every year that you step into an NFL season without one of these top five guys. It’s very difficult to win in this league and there’s only a few quarterbacks you’re going to win. because of the quarterback only, ”Shanahan explained Monday. “Very few, and even these guys still need a good team around them. So yeah, you have to take risks and that was a risk we were willing to take.
“We looked at how our four years went and we looked at how we want the next four years to go and we looked at where we are with the project and the options that are there. And that’s why we’ve been sitting there watching this since January and throughout the process we were convinced that we were going to be left at the altar setting there at 12 years old. The way we think this draft is going to play out and the way all of these candidates are and how a lot of teams are in a position to try to take a risk, to fill this need that I just spoke about. Almost all teams are in this position except 10 of them. So yes, it is a risk. But every season in this league is a risk. “
The risk the 49ers would have to take likely involves the quarterback, a position in which San Francisco has a quality starter in Jimmy Garoppolo. But after wading through the muddy waters of two seasons spent largely without Garoppolo available due to injury, the 49ers came to the conclusion that they needed a better plan B. And that secondary option could very much. well become their primary over time, which could be as long as Garoppolo’s remaining contract length (which carries virtually no financial penalties due to early termination), or as short as later this offseason.
From now on, the 49ers want Garoppolo. There’s no rush to parting ways, and while they understand he’s probably not ecstatic about this development, they expect him to respond to the challenge in a positive way.
“We walked over to the property and said, ‘Hey, everything is fine. We’d love to make that gesture, but we don’t want to say goodbye to Jimmy either. I think Jimmy, we showed we can do it. a Super Bowl with him. We can play at a high level and we don’t think those two things have to be mutually exclusive, ”said Lynch. “So the opportunity to trade and possibly find a guy who can be a big part of our future and keep Jimmy, who we’re very high for and has positive things going for this offseason, is the kind of plan we came up with.
“We’re very excited. It was a stated goal that we had to come out with the stronger quarterback position this year and I think we’ve put ourselves in an opportunity to do that with this move.”
With the 49ers essentially flipping the hand to a move almost everyone saw coming as soon as the trade news broke, we can expect a prominent figure to wear red and gold soon. This person is not guaranteed to see playing time early, especially if the 49ers continue their claim to keep Garoppolo for the immediate future with the aim of fighting now. For Shanahan, this is an ideal scenario, in which they don’t have to throw an inexperienced youngster into the melting pot that is the NFL.
“We’re in a situation where when you bring in a rookie quarterback, for me it’s always better, especially in the squad you have, you already have a veteran starting who you love and who you are with. comfortable to win, ”Shanahan said.“ This is usually the direction you want to go and not throw someone else into the fire until they are completely ready. This is the situation we find ourselves in. You look at free will, it goes the other way, you do things differently, maybe. But right now, Jimmy, it’s going to be tough to find a quarterback who gives us a better chance of winning than Jimmy right now, especially even a draft rookie. So that’s what you’re looking at.
… “We have a guy here who we know we can win with, a guy that our players love and that we love, and we’re excited to have him this year, and we’re so glad to have a hell of a a quarterback right behind him learning when the time is on him. “
So the plan, on its surface from March 29, is drafting and developing Garoppolo’s successor, and keeping him behind glass in case Garoppolo falls again. If you’re trying to replace a quality starter with a hopeful face from a franchise, you want to reach the greatest potential, which the 49ers knew they could only do if they made the top three. where they “sort of control things.”
Now it looks like it only remains to figure out how the quarterback’s outlook stacks up on the San Francisco board. Trevor Lawrence is nothing more than a pipe dream, but there’s at least a marginal chance that BYU’s Zach Wilson will still be available until the Jets get him to No.2. direction the Jets could be tilted a month before the draft, it would be the former team of Jets coach Robert Saleh, the 49ers. And if it’s not Wilson, there’s also Justin Fields, Trey Lance and Mac Jones.
The latter of the trio has gained momentum for how he might fit into the San Francisco offense, though he doesn’t rank as high as the rest on most analysts’ advice. Then again, Kirk Cousins wasn’t at the top of anyone’s table back when Shanahan was in Washington, where the football team drafted Cousins in the same class as Robert Griffin III and finally handed the keys to Cousins.
Shanahan thought his 49ers might have a chance to land Cousins via free agency, but acquired Garoppolo before that became a possibility. Now they could have their eyes on the next cousins in this class.
Is it Jones? Is this Wilson, and the 49ers have a feeling he might be available? Or is San Francisco looking for a more athletic outlook in the Fields or Lance mold?
These are the questions we will reflect on next month. In case you didn’t understand why the draft is getting so much attention, you might have an idea now.
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