Report: Lance pro day can impact 49ers' No. 3 draft choice

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The 49ers have evaluated both  Justin Fields and Mac Jones in person as they assess options for the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Fields' impressive pro day last week now has him as the betting favorite to be San Francisco's choice, after several weeks of Jones being the presumptive preference.

Trey Lance also is expected to be in the conversation for the 49ers at No. 3, and ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported Sunday morning that how he performs in his pro day on Monday "absolutely" could sway the 49ers' brass as they continue the evaluation process.

"I'm told that Lance absolutely can sway their decision on the No. 3 pick with a big performance," Fowler said on "SportsCenter." "Because the 49ers are taking this with an open mind, a broad approach, they're still taking a look at all those quarterbacks. And so with no combine this year and lack of game film, these pro days take on a heightened importance. So they want to see Lance in play-action moving around and mobility, tailoring things toward what the 49ers would do on offense. There will be several teams in the top 10 there to watch Lance to see what he can do.

"And so the 49ers are gonna watch Lance at his pro day, they are gonna go back to Santa Clara, they are gonna have organizational meetings and they are going to try to hash this out exactly what they're doing with that third pick pretty soon."

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Lance remains the biggest unknown in this draft class, as he is the only one of the five expected first-round quarterbacks that played in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in college. He only had one full season as a starter at North Dakota State, but he had 42 total touchdowns and didn't throw an interception in that 2019 campaign, which culminated in a national championship for the Bison.

He has the size and speed of an NFL quarterback, and will get another chance Monday to show off his arm in front of the 49ers' top decision-makers in coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.

As the 49ers expect to have the choice of Lance, Jones or Fields with the No. 3 pick, every chance at evaluation matters for the their front office.

Plenty of rumors will continue to fly around as we get closer to draft night, but no one will know for sure until NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announces a name on April 29.

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