[Goose]

Little or no choice among the 2021 draft's top few QB options, but that assumes that they HAD to pick one of the top few 2021 QB options. Assuming that/imagining only a path forward in which they got one of those top few QBs was a blinked, desperate mentality. Put another way, they had a choice whether to get the QB of the future at the top of the draft and they chose to. But they had plenty of other choices available.


1. Draft whoever was remaining at #12, which was hardly a bad option. Mac Jones was a good prospect on paper who was plausibly discussed to go earlier and, with the benefit of hindsight now, had a really good rookie year.



2. Draft a promising QB in the second or third round, of which there were numerous options. Davis Mills was one that was obvious to many of us as an extremely high ceiling option and, with the benefit of hindsight now, had a solid rookie year.



3. Trade up but not so far up as #3. It was a choice to want to be able to choose between three of the top five rather than just two or to get a decent consolation prize.



4. Trade for a proven NFL QB.



5. Keep Jimmy G as the QB through 2022 and wait for another option to trade or draft for a QB. Acting like the 2021 draft was a once in a lifetime opportunity was itself a desperate move considering we already had a QB1 signed for multiple more seasons playing at a level better than a young first round QB could be expected to play in his first two years. Mock drafts are now forecasting the 2023 draft and it looks possible that QB class will be very strong as well. It wasn't a now or never thing. Patience can pay off. If the Niners passed on a QB at #12 in 2021 they could have gotten Micah Parsons, which probably would have improved near-term Super Bowl odds more than any of these non-Lawrence QB options.



There were choices. The Niners made one, not the only one.

You are for sure correct that there were other paths available. #5 above probably isn't one of them however. Jimmy G will make too much money in 2022 to keep around. They need the cap space. That is why the consensus is that he will be released if he is not traded. Given that, #4 is also problematic because a great veteran QB probably also makes more than they can afford cap-wise. There also may have been nobody out there they liked. They simply needed a cheap but great QB on a rookie contract for a few years. Undoubtedly they considered the other three options and decided to go with the one that would deliver them Lance. Let's just hope it "works" for them. I think the draft is a very random instrument. That said, you have to make your "best possible decision", knowing full well it isn't a lock.

[Goose]

Little or no choice among the 2021 draft's top few QB options, but that assumes that they HAD to pick one of the top few 2021 QB options. Assuming that/imagining only a path forward in which they got one of those top few QBs was a blinked, desperate mentality. Put another way, they had a choice whether to get the QB of the future at the top of the draft and they chose to. But they had plenty of other choices available.


1. Draft whoever was remaining at #12, which was hardly a bad option. Mac Jones was a good prospect on paper who was plausibly discussed to go earlier and, with the benefit of hindsight now, had a really good rookie year.



2. Draft a promising QB in the second or third round, of which there were numerous options. Davis Mills was one that was obvious to many of us as an extremely high ceiling option and, with the benefit of hindsight now, had a solid rookie year.



3. Trade up but not so far up as #3. It was a choice to want to be able to choose between three of the top five rather than just two or to get a decent consolation prize.



4. Trade for a proven NFL QB.



5. Keep Jimmy G as the QB through 2022 and wait for another option to trade or draft for a QB. Acting like the 2021 draft was a once in a lifetime opportunity was itself a desperate move considering we already had a QB1 signed for multiple more seasons playing at a level better than a young first round QB could be expected to play in his first two years. Mock drafts are now forecasting the 2023 draft and it looks possible that QB class will be very strong as well. It wasn't a now or never thing. Patience can pay off. If the Niners passed on a QB at #12 in 2021 they could have gotten Micah Parsons, which probably would have improved near-term Super Bowl odds more than any of these non-Lawrence QB options.



There were choices. The Niners made one, not the only one.

You are for sure correct that there were other paths available. #5 above probably isn't one of them however. Jimmy G will make too much money in 2022 to keep around. They need the cap space. That is why the consensus is that he will be released if he is not traded. Given that, #4 is also problematic because a great veteran QB probably also makes more than they can afford cap-wise. There also may have been nobody out there they liked. They simply needed a cheap but great QB on a rookie contract for a few years. Undoubtedly they considered the other three options and decided to go with the one that would deliver them Lance. Let's just hope it "works" for them. I think the draft is a very random instrument. That said, you have to make your "best possible decision", knowing full well it isn't a lock.