The San Francisco 49ers were one of nine teams that passed on QB Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 NFL Draft. And it’s a move that 49ers GM John Lynch regrets to this day.
It’s been a good weekend for Lynch, who found out on Saturday that he’s being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his stellar career at safety. But the topic of his decision to pass on Mahomes was brought up in an interview this morning, and he admitted the move may “haunt” him.
“That’ll probably haunt me for a while,” Lynch said. “I remember going to his pro day and, you know, we were in a different place as an organization and we had a different plan at quarterback. I remember going to his pro day, doing my job. But really it’s kind of a smokescreen because we were going elsewhere. And then calling our head coach, Kyle (Shanahan), and saying, ‘We might want to rethink this,’ because he put on a show.”
Lynch ultimately decided to stick with Brian Hoyer and drafted Iowa’s C.J. Beathard in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The result was an 0-6 start that prompted Lynch to trade for Jimmy Garoppolo mid-season.
The 49ers finished the season 6-10.
John Lynch ‘haunted’ by #49ers bypassing of Patrick Mahomes
Here is exactly what 49ers GM said this morning about a windy day in Lubbock where Mahomes wowed all before 2017 draft (as Kyle Shanahan acknowledged prior to last year’s Super Bowl)https://t.co/wc4NrL6Ug8 #SuperBowl— Cam Inman (@CamInman) February 7, 2021
Jimmy Garoppolo would lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl two years later. But his regression in 2020 has Lynch pretty much right back where he started in terms of the QB position.
In fairness to Lynch, he wasn’t the only GM who made the mistake of passing on Mahomes. And unlike some of those other GMs, he hasn’t lost his job over it.
Many fanbases and NFL executives will be kicking themselves for years to come as Patrick Mahomes dominates the NFL.
The post John Lynch Uses 1 Word To Describe Passing On Patrick Mahomes appeared first on The Spun.
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