Now that’s more like it. For weeks, the media—and Kyle Shanahan himself—have tried their darnedest to convince us the 49ers, come April 29th at about 8 PM ET, will be drafting Alabama quarterback Mac Jones with No. 3 pick.
A Heisman finalist coming off an undefeated season, Jones is a fine player in his own right, but trading three first-rounders to draft him third overall ahead of Justin Fields, who has done nothing but drop jaws at his two Ohio State Pro Days, would be hard to justify. An athletic marvel whose only loss last season came at the hands of Alabama in the National Championship game, Fields is as enticing a dual-threat talent as we’ve seen in years, and it seems, after weeks of deceiving us with coded language and increasingly elaborate smokescreens, the 49ers have finally reached that conclusion.
It’s hard to know who to believe in this chaotic, rumor-infested draft bubble of ours, but believe this—as of Thursday, Fields is now firmly in the driver’s seat on FanDuel Sportsbook, overtaking Jones as the odds-on favorite to go third overall. Fields’ line improved to -135, while Jones is now a slight underdog at +125. Trey Lance of North Dakota State remains a +380 longshot with Zach Wilson (+2600) and Kyle Pitts (+5000) next up in the pecking order.
Thursday’s shakeup was no coincidence. Many believe Fields’ recent showcase in Columbus was held specifically with the 49ers in mind with observers noticing a marked change in the 22-year-old’s throwing stance (he led with his left leg in the shotgun formation, which is known to be Shanahan’s preference). Fields also appeared to implement certain elements of Shanahan’s scheme while performing in front of scouts at Wednesday’s Pro Day.
None of that guarantees Fields will be the pick over Jones at No. 3, though among bettors, the Fields-to-San Francisco narrative has picked up considerable steam in recent days. There are still two weeks until the draft, giving Shanahan and partner-in-crime John Lynch plenty more time to play mind games, if that’s what they intend on doing. But finally, after weeks of being unfairly dragged by television talking heads like Dan Orlovsky and Chris Mortensen, it appears logic has prevailed with Fields emerging, at least on one popular betting platform, as the likely No. 3 pick.
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