The San Francisco 49ers attempted to explain their decision to move up to No. 3 in the draft and what that may mean for the future of Jimmy Garoppolo. 

The Niners essentially admitted they plan to draft a quarterback at No. 3, and they intend to hang on to Garoppolo, barring a significant trade offer for him.

"We're in a situation where when you bring in a rookie quarterback, to me it's always better, especially on the team that you have, if you've got a veteran starter there already who you like and you're comfortable winning with, that's usually the direction you want to go," Kyle Shanahan said. "And not throw someone else out into the fire until they're fully ready, and that's the situation we're at. ... I think Jimmy, it's going to be hard to find a quarterback who gives us a better chance to win than Jimmy right now, especially even a rookie in the draft. ...

"Now, if someone wanted (to give) something for (Garoppolo) and it could make our team better in a lot of other ways, you listen to that, but it also depends on how good you feel about that rookie. And we're not there yet right now. Odds are, we probably won't be. That's why we're happy that we don't have to be that way. We've got a guy in here who we know we can win with, a guy our players love, that we love and we're excited to have him this year, and we're excited to have a hell of a quarterback right behind him learning for when the time is his."

The Niners believed all five of the quarterbacks they're interested in selecting would be off the board by they drafted at No. 12.

"We felt pretty strongly we were gonna get left at the altar sitting there at 12," Shanahan said. "There are five guys that are kind of at this party a little bit, and people are talking about them going everywhere. They're all over in the first round. Our feeling is these guys were going to go a lot higher than people realize."

Urban Meyer admitted that the Jacksonville Jaguars are likely to pick Trevor Lawrence.

Lawrence has long been considered the clear cut No. 1 prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft.

"I'd have to say that's the direction we're going," Meyer told Peter King. "I'll leave that up to the owner when we make that decision official. But I'm certainly not stepping out of line that that's certainly the direction we're headed."

The Jaguars gave Gardner Minshew the chance to prove he could be the long-term starter last season, but he struggled after a good start in the first two weeks, hid a thumb injury from the staff and lost his job to rookie Jake Luton and eventually veteran Mike Glennon.

The Philadelphia Eagles have traded picks No. 6 and No156 to the Miami Dolphins for the No. 12 pick, No. 123 overall and a 2022 first round pick.

Trevor Lawrence has the fourth highest pre-draft grade Mel Kiper Jr. has given to a quarterback since 1979.

"Lawrence is the clear top prospect in this class," writes Kiper. "He's going No. 1 to the Jaguars and will get a chance to lead the turnaround of that franchise alongside coach Urban Meyer. He has everything NFL teams want in a starting quarterback, from size to arm talent to the ability to process reads and make the right throw. Lawrence finished his Clemson career with 108 total touchdowns (18 rushing) and just 17 interceptions across three seasons."

Mel Kiper Jr. Pre-Draft QB Grade Top-10
1. John Elway, Stanford
2. Andrew Luck, Stanford
3. Peyton Manning, Tennessee
4. Trevor Lawrence, Clemson
5. Jim Kelly, Miami
6. Andre Ware, Houston
7. Drew Bledsoe, Washington State
8. Ryan Leaf, Washington State
9. Troy Aikman, UCLA
10. Josh Allen, Wyoming