49ers GM John Lynch says starting fresh at quarterback is ‘somewhat liberating’
INDIANAPOLIS — As the NFL Draft approaches, teams often make it a point to stay tight-lipped about their plans. In the case of the San Francisco 49ers, there’s not much mystery when it comes to their biggest needs and what the franchise is likely to do with the No. 2 overall pick come April 27.
Such is life when you have a roster without a quarterback.
On Wednesday, Colin Kaepernick’s agents reportedly informed NFL teams that the quarterback would be opting out of the final year of his 49ers deal, making him a free agent when the window to sign players opens next week. Backups Blaine Gabbert, Thad Lewis and Christian Ponder — none of whom were thought to be serious candidates for the Niners’ starting job this year — will be free agents as well, leaving the team with zero options.
“I don’t think you need to be too transparent to realize that’s a position we’re looking at,” new 49ers general manager John Lynch acknowledged Thursday at the Combine. “We don’t have any, so that’s a position that’s a big focal point of our preparation right now, and this week is a big part of that.”
Fortunately for Lynch, there are several draft prospects who could fill that void for a team that went 2-14 in 2016, and San Francisco should have its pick of the litter if it wants one. To that end, Lynch said he’s already started gauging who might be the best fit for his quarterback role, and it seems there’s a good chance it could ultimately come down to Deshaun vs. DeShone.
On Wednesday, Lynch met with the latter, former Notre Dame signal-caller DeShone Kizer, and said he was pleased.
“This whole thing is not about an interview, but if you were grading him on that alone, he blew the doors off it,” Lynch said. “He’s an impressive young man.”
Lynch said he also walked away feeling good about Clemson’s national championship-winning quarterback Deshaun Watson, a two-time Heisman finalist, when he had the chance to meet him in Houston last month.
“I love winners, and he has that,” Lynch said. “Before I was hired as the general manager of the 49ers, I spent some time around him at the Super Bowl, and there’s certain guys who just carry themselves differently, have a presence about them. I’d put him in that category. In the brief time, you could see there’s a confidence, an aura that he carries himself with that’s pretty special.”
Lynch also name-dropped North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky and Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes as other prospects who have caught his attention in what he calls “a very talented draft class at that position.” But while the opportunity to meet quarterbacks and watch them work out in Indy is helpful, it’s not the be all and end all when it comes to selecting the right…
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