Mac Jones prediction exposes awkward NFL ‘friendship’

Speculation has run rampant on who the San Francisco 49ers will select with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, days after they traded up from No. 12 in the likely pursuit of a quarterback. No one truly knows who they will pick – but one media figure has seemed overly confident in the days since the trade.

NBC analyst and former NFL quarterback Chris Simms has now stated on numerous occasions his belief that the 49ers will select Alabama QB Mac Jones with the pick. .

“I think it’s Mac Jones. I do,” Simms said on PFT Live. “I don’t know that, but just knowing my friend, knowing his history, knowing his school of thought to make that type of move, that’s the one that makes sense to me. … I think he makes sense to him, one, because, I think, after Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson … he’s the most NFL ready right now.”

The interesting bit there: the part where he mentioned “my friend.” Simms is close friends with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, which has led many in the NFL sphere to believe that Simms may actually have inside information on San Francisco’s thought process.

Shanahan dispelled that idea in a Monday press conference.

“Trust me, Chris talks about everything,” he said. “Therefore, I haven’t been able to talk to him in a couple of years. Anyone who you’re friends with who speaks in the media, and people think you’re friends with them, that means you’re not allowed to tell them anything. That’s why he doesn’t even ask me stuff. Because if he does ask me something, and I tell him, then he can’t say it.”

Shanahan and 49ers GM John Lynch, however, are opting to attend Mac Jones’ pro day on Tuesday instead of Justin Fields’ in Columbus. When asked about that decision by Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Shanahan stated it was important not to tip the team’s hand before the trade was done – but doesn’t seem all that intent on being coy now.

“Now that you’re up at 3, you don’t have to hide as much,” Shanahan said.

It’s possible that the 49ers’ decision has not yet been made, and that they want to see what Jones looks like in person, but they sure seem to have a lot of interest.