Schefter Explains How 49ers Passing on Patrick Mahomes Led to Drafting Brock Purdy

Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVFebruary 11, 2024

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Passing on Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 NFL draft may have at least provided a small sliver of a silver lining for the San Francisco 49ers.

As many fans are aware, the Niners used the No. 3 pick on Stanford defensive lineman Solomon Thomas that year. ESPN’s Adam Schefter how that indirectly led the franchise to getting Brock Purdy in 2022.

Adam Schefter @AdamSchefterIn the 2017 NFL Draft in which they held the second overall pick, the 49ers did not study Patrick Mahomes because they believed they would be able to sign Kirk Cousins during 2018 free agency and reunite him with Kyle Shanahan. Those plans were scuttled when the Patriots and… pic.twitter.com/6zc8XzFEvj

To say San Francisco didn’t evaluate Mahomes during the pre-draft process would be an exaggeration.

“I didn’t look into him obviously as much as I should have,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said in 2020. “We definitely looked into him, studied all of his tape. Was just a freak, could make any throw, had the ability to do anything. That was a little bit different situation for us. We had the second pick in the draft, did not feel like from all the intel that you get and stuff that he was gonna go that high.”

The coach also explained he was focused on improving the Niners defense that offseason. The unit ranked last in yards and points allowed in 2016.

All things being equal, you’d obviously want Mahomes over Purdy, and Shanahan has expressed regret at getting it so badly wrong in the 2017 draft.

But the whiff hasn’t stopped San Francisco from being a perennial title contender. Contrast that with the fortunes of the Chicago Bears, who took Mitchell Trubisky instead of Mahomes with the No. 2 pick and are still trying to make up for it.

We’re about to find out in a matter of hours whether Purdy is good enough to lead his franchise to a Super Bowl. If he does, then the 2017 draft becomes much less of a touchstone for Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.

Should Mahomes get the better of the 49ers again, however, it might change how their fans consider what could’ve been.