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Fields seems to be the quarter that best checks the boxes Shanahan has laid out. He is big, fast, strong and can sit in the bag and throw. His athleticism is an extra asset, not the quality on which most of his success depends. Fields has an amazing arm and uses it out of pocket and on the go as plays break down into plays. The ability to set up from time to time can quite easily outweigh any benefit that a quarter of an hour can have out of pocket.
The extra speed bump will be a nightmare for defensive work against a 49ers game that is already difficult to defend. By adding another number to the mix, Shanahan could set up more actions that create mismatches for the 49ers offensive line.
An interesting ripple to behold is how Lance ends the discussion. He is the most experienced player-in-passing with his back to the defense. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner tweeted a string of numbers suggesting Lance’s readiness to run a play-action game like Shanahan’s is better than the other signal callers that are expected to be available if the 49ers choose. Lance notices many of the same subjects as Fields does, but his 17 starts at FCS level make his pro readiness an important question mark. It will still not be a big surprise if he becomes the third choice in this year’s draft.
While the distinction between Lance and Fields boils down to different nitpicks, this is where Jones stands out in the areas that Shanahan has laid out. He’s not the greatest, nor the fastest or strongest, and his game out of pocket is not so substantially better than the other two that it makes sense to put him in front of the pack.
Jones seems to fit into the Cousins form that Shanahan mentioned when he said he is a quarterback with whom a team can win. Jimmy Garoppolo is like that too. The 49ers are clearly looking for something more than that, and if that were not the case, they might have sat at number 12 to see if Jones fell, or found a prospect they liked in Round 2. has to turn on.
So while Shanahan may not have given enough to let us know who it is going to be, it seems like he has outlined some traits that tell us who it will not be.