What we know about who 49ers will draft No. 3 overall

With rumors and smoke screens and reports from reporters of varying credibilities swirling around the 49ers and who they’ll select at No. 3 overall in this year’s draft, one thing is becoming more clear than ever: we have no real clarity on who they’re going to pick.

There’s some speculation and dot connecting that brings forth valid points as to why the 49ers would pick each quarterback. The issue is all of that speculation and dot connecting works for each player. Trey Lance ran a lot of Kyle Shanahan-style offense at North Dakota State. Mac Jones could be Shanahan’s new Matt Ryan. Justin Fields knows Shanahan from a quarterback camp. Zach Wilson’s name doesn’t even come up even though there’s still uncertainty on whether he’d slip past the Jets.

All of those things are valid reasons to believe each quarterback would fit with San Francisco. None of them are stone-cold “the 49ers are picking this player” reports. They’re guesses from the analyst or from sources with other clubs that don’t seem to take into account what Shanahan said about what type of quarterback he’s looking for. Or perhaps Shanahan was lying when he talked about what he wants under center. Who knows?

The bottom line on all the conjecture regarding the 49ers’ definitive interest in one player at the No. 3 pick – it’s hard to envision the ever-secretive 49ers who kept their move up to No. 3 under lock and key, suddenly leaking their intended pick to anyone who would listen. There’s no value in making their intended pick known a month before the draft, especially with the No. 2 pick still up in the air.

So, have your favorite player, and have your takes on who they should or will draft. Scoop up whatever dots happen to surface and have a ball connecting them. There’s just over three weeks left until the draft and everything we know about who the 49ers are going to pick is at best an educated guess based on factors that came from places other than the person in charge of making the pick. We can have all the thoughts and debates we want, but chances are we won’t have any clarity until their pick is announced on April 29, no matter how many definitive statements are made on the internet.

List

Mock Draft Sunday: 4-round San Francisco 49ers projections