Richard Sherman Predicts 49ers Pick Justin Fields at No. 3 Amid Mac Jones Rumors

Free agent cornerback Richard Sherman believes his former team, the San Francisco 49ers, will select Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields with the No. 3 overall pick despite persistent buzz that Alabama signal-caller Mac Jones is their guy.

"I still think that Justin Fields is the pick," he said on Wednesday's Cris Collinsworth Podcast featuring Richard Sherman (h/t Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports).

He continued:

"I don't know what they're thinking. I don't think Kyle and John ever show their hand. I've never seen speculation to the point that it is right now. This is a feverous pitch of speculation. This is ridiculous. And then it's almost like a smokescreen because every mock has Mac Jones. It's like, c'mon now. It's interesting. It's gonna be interesting and San Francisco's gonna pretty much control the draft and control what everybody else does." 

Most of the noise surrounding the 49ers and the No. 3 overall pick has been them selecting Jones, though that of course could be a smokescreen:

Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have already attended Jones' Pro Day and are expected to be in attendance for Fields' second Pro Day on Wednesday, per Johnson. They are also expected to attend Trey Lance's second Pro Day on Monday. 

There are a few questions surrounding San Francisco at No. 3. Would they really trade the No. 12 pick this year and first-rounders in 2022 and 2023 and a third-rounder in 2023 to move up for a player in Jones who many people believe may have been available to them at No. 12?

In his latest big board, for instance, the NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah had Jones as his No. 29 overall prospect. Teams traditionally overdraft quarterbacks, given the huge importance of the position, so it's possible that Jones wouldn't have fallen to No. 12. If the Niners really love him and are convinced other teams would rate him higher than the general public consensus, such a trade would make sense. 

The other question is what purpose a smokescreen would serve for the Niners when the Jacksonville Jaguars are widely expected to draft Trevor Lawrence No. 1 and the New York Jets are expected to take Zach Wilson No. 2. If teams believe those picks are locked in, the Niners simply get their pick of the top quarterbacks remaining. Why put out so much counterintelligence?

One reason would be if the Jets decide to shop the No. 2 pick to another quarterback-needy team. If the Niners truly love Fields (or Lance), putting out the Jones smokescreen makes it less likely a team would leapfrog them to get one of those players, believing they'd drop. 

A second theory involves Jimmy Garoppolo and the New England Patriots:

At the very least, the Niners have everyone guessing. Sherman, for one, isn't buying the Jones buzz as real. We'll find out in two weeks.