Brian Baldinger believes that the San Francisco 49ers will take former Alabama quarterback Mac Jones with the No. 3 overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, which will be held Thursday night.
Baldinger seems to believe that Jones is the right selection over North Dakota State's Trey Lance, but on the latest edition of "Baldy's Breakdowns," he also told Jason La Canfora that he sympathizes with 49ers fans who believe that the team may have bid against themselves in attempting to land the 22-year-old:
"And I just said to myself, 'Why would you give all of this up for Mac Jones?' Who else sees Mac Jones like this savior? Like the way that the 49ers evidently do, and I still think that's the pick. You can put Trey Lance in there, I don't see that at all. You can tell me about his upside, you can tell me about his talent, that's fine. He was godawful against Central Arkansas this year. He's a running quarterback, you're not going to do that in the NFL like he did in that conference. So I just had problems with that. So if it's Mac Jones, then it's Mac Jones. That fanbase is going to explode. Like, it is going to be like Donovan McNabb getting drafted in Philadelphia - it's going to be that type of backlash. And I think Kyle knows it, and that's kind of why he said some of the things that he said the other day."
Baldinger, of course, is referring to when a select group of Eagles fans booed the decision of the franchise to use the No. 2 overall pick on Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb, rather than Texas running back Ricky Williams:
While Williams would rush for over 10,000 yards in a strange, but successful NFL career, McNabb clearly proved to be the better pro. Under Andy Reid's tutelage, McNabb led the Eagles to five NFC Championship Games and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIX. The six-time Pro-Bowler is arguably the greatest quarterback in the history of the franchise.
Trying to become the greatest quarterback in 49ers history is probably an unrealistic goal, but could Jones ultimately lead the franchise to a Super Bowl title? Maybe, but in the interim he'll have to hear quite a bit from his critics.
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