He seems confident:

He’s putting his reputation on the line saying this. At least his reputation as a football analyst.

It has almost become conventional wisdom that the 49ers are going to take Mac Jones. At this point, Mac Jones to the 49ers at #3 feels almost as etched in stone as Lawrence to the Jags at #1 and Wilson to the Jets at #2.

But Joe Thomas believes otherwise.

Justin Fields held his second pro day today after a lot of teams missed his first one a few weeks back to attend the Alabama pro day. According to Albert Breer there were a lot of teams in attendance today:

Now, I wouldn’t take too much from this. Teams have to do their due diligence and, beyond that, teams like the Jets are not trying to tip their hands. The 49ers might be doing the same thing; keep the other teams guessing.

The Falcons are either interested in Fields or want other teams to believe they’re interested. I think the Panthers are trying to coax some team to trade up for their 8th pick.

But as far as the Broncos and Patriots being in attendance, I think that’s “real.” I think the Broncos would absolutely draft Fields if he fell to them, and clearly Bill Belichick is thirsty for a QB attending all these pro days despite having the 15th pick.

Even Matt Nagy was there, although there’s no shot the Bears will get Fields at #20. Maybe the Bears are trying to trade up?

What’s most interesting here is the last thing Breer said: NFL coaches will run Fields’ workout. So this means he’ll be out there doing what the NFL coaches ask him to do. These coaches will be asking him to run specific plays and make specific throws, and he’s going to give them what they order up. This shows Fields has confidence in himself and his ability to do whatever these coaches ask.

Will Fields’ second pro day move him up teams’ draft boards? It’s impossible to say; we’ll find out in a couple weeks on Draft Night.

Right now it just feels like another storyline for the media to discuss as they try to pass the time until the Draft. It’s a way for them to make things interesting and inject some uncertainty into what’s starting to feel like a draft that has already been, for the most part, finalized at least as far as the top 3 picks go.

That’s not good for the media. The media thrives on uncertainty and intrigue. If things are set in stone, then the media really has nothing to discuss. But if they can say, “Justin Fields’ pro day has teams taking a second look at him!” then things are interesting. Things aren’t set in stone anymore.

This feels like the media trying to keep the draft buzz alive. I don’t really believe a guy’s pro day is going to change teams’ minds about him.

If the Jets and the 49ers don’t see Fields’ potential by this point, I don’t think they’ll have a sudden epiphany at this pro day two weeks before the draft. The idea that this pro day could change everything, I’m skeptical.

I still have Fields as my #2 QB in the draft. I’ve had him as the #2 QB in the draft for over two years now. I think the 49ers should take him at #3 because the Jets apparently have their minds made up already.