49ers Deserve as Much Heat as Bears for Passing on Patrick Mahomes for John Lynch's Former Classmate

The Bears made a big mistake in choosing Mitchell Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes, but the 49ers oddly get a pass for opting not to select the quarterback who beat them in this past year's Super Bowl. Instead of choosing the 2018 MVP, the Niners took general manger John Lynch's former classmate.

Yes, you read that correctly. Even though Lynch is 48 years old, he was classmates with Niners defensive tackle Solomon Thomas at Stanford. In 2014, Lynch went back to school to complete his bachelor's degree after he left California to pursue a career in the NFL post-junior year.

It all worked out for the 49ers, as they acquired Jimmy Garoppolo and built a Super Bowl-contending team, but they did pass on Mahomes for a player with only six sacks in three seasons. Thomas can still grow into a productive player, but he will never reach the heights of the Super Bowl MVP.

Maybe if the Niners had Mahomes instead of Garoppolo calling the shots, they would have hoisted the Lombardi last February. We can only imagine that embarrassment of riches.

Most teams that passed on Mahomes deserve some heat because they missed out on a generational talent. Let's spread the blame around.