Kyle Shanahan & John Lynch on why 49ers selected Trey Lance

After more than a month of speculation, the San Francisco 49ers have decided who will be the quarterback of the future.

The Niners selected North Dakota State product Trey Lance third overall. The 20-year-old played in 17 games at the FCS level but has the physical and mental tools to be a successful NFL QB.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan said the 49ers were high on Lance from the very beginning of the process.

Some draft pundits suggested that San Francisco was still unsure which prospect it would select with the No. 3 pick coming into the week, but Lynch says the team locked in on Lance on Monday.

During the pre-draft media availability, Shanahan said he was looking for a QB that was a mix of Lamar Jackson and Drew Brees. Given the recent trend of dual-threat NFL quarterbacks, he felt Lance was the best option.

Leading up to the draft, most NFL insiders believed the 49ers would go with Alabama’s Mac Jones. The hot takes were at a fever pitch that Jones was the perfect fit for Shanahan’s system. Shanahan’s close friend, Chris Simms, was on the Jones hype-train, but maybe he just helped his buddy out by adding fuel to the fire. Shanahan said the Niners’ brass was content with letting the talking heads do what they do best.

Give credit to Lynch and Shanahan. They kept the entire NFL world guessing which signal-caller they were going to take at No. 3. That isn’t easy to do in today’s day and age. San Francisco did such a good job of keeping the pick a secret that Lance only found out he was heading to the Bay Area shortly before the selection was made official.

Draft day started with a bang when reports surfaced that future Hall-of-Famer Aaron Rodgers doesn’t want to play for the Green Bay Packers anymore. Shanahan was asked if the 49ers checked in with the Packers on what it would cost to pry the reigning league MVP from Green Bay.

It’s crazy to think, but after all of the QB talk leading up to the draft, Jimmy Garoppolo remains on the roster. When the trade was originally made, Shanahan and Lynch said they intend on keeping Garoppolo for at least the next season. The head coach reiterated that during the draft-day press conference.

The Niners were in a situation rarely seen in the NFL. They have a Super Bowl-ready roster and took a potential franchise QB in the top-three of the draft. Drafting Lance and keeping Garoppolo gives San Francisco flexibility moving forward.

The 49ers have a nucleus of George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Trent Williams and Fred Warner. They also have a veteran QB who has helped lead them to a Super Bowl and hopefully a future superstar signal-caller learning behind him until he is ready to lead the franchise for the next decade-plus.

September can’t get here soon enough.