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Donte Whitner believes one NFL team should move up to to take Justin Fields in 2021 NFL Draft
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It has been a disappointing 2020 season for the San Francisco 49ers.
After nearly capturing the Super Bowl in February, the 49ers took a major step back as they failed to even qualify for the playoffs in 2020. These struggles are causing some in the Bay Area to discuss what San Francisco should do this offseason. One 49er analyst believes the team should make some major changes this offseason.
The analyst in question is NBC Sports Bay Area’s Donte Whitner. An Ohio State alum, Whitner appears to be a big believer in current Buckeye quarterback Justin Fields. Whitner believes it would be in the best interest of San Francisco to trade up to a pick where the 49ers can draft Fields.
“This guy is mature, he’s accurate and he has the ability to take this offense to the next level,” Whitner said. “If I’m the general manager of the 49ers, I’m moving up to take Justin Fields.”
When asked what the team should give up to take Fields, Whitner said he would give it all up to put the star QB in Kyle Shanahan’s offense:
“You gotta give it all up,” said Whitner. “Listen, this is your guy…you gotta do what you gotta do. If you can put a guy like Justin Fields in a Kyle Shanahan offense, with all the misdirection, all of the shifts and motions, all of the easy throws, and you just rely on him when it’s not there to escape the pocket and make something happen, he can do that. And he has the size and capability and tools.”
At 6-9, San Francisco will more than likely be in the middle of the draft order when all is set and done. Fields is likely to go as high as No. 2 in the 2021 Draft. That means the 49ers would have to do some major wheeling and dealing to jump up high into the first round.
The other elephant in the room is the fact San Francisco has quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo already under contract until 2023. His cap hit is more than $20 million the next two seasons.
It’s an interesting idea put out by Whitner and would be nice for the 49ers. But it would take a lot to make that situation work with trading up and figuring out what to do with Garoppolo.