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San Francisco 49ers players aren’t around their Santa Clara headquarters right now because the team is on its bye week. However, they will return next week to begin preparations for the Indianapolis Colts.
The off time is a good opportunity to listen to analysts like Greg Cosell, who joined KNBR today and shared his thoughts on rookie quarterback Trey Lance‘s first start this past weekend, a 17-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
What did the respected long-time analyst think of the 21-year-old’s starting debut? Lance ran the football 16 times for 89 yards, which was a bit unexpected considering head coach Kyle Shanahan had said that fans could expect the rookie looking more like a quarterback and less like a running back in the game, taking more snaps from under center rather than from the shotgun. That did not happen.
“I think about 10 or 11 of [the 16 carries] were designed runs, which is still quite a few,” Cosell said on the Murph & Mac show. “And my sense is that was done in this given game for a couple of reasons. Number one, they wanted to get Lance comfortable, doing what he does well. He runs the ball well, and I’m sure he’s been doing that since he started playing quarterback. He’s always been a good athlete. My guess is they wanted to get him comfortable and settled into the game.”
Cosell is correct that Lance showed next-level athleticism at North Dakota State. In his only full season for the Bison, he racked up 1,100 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns to go along with his 2,786 passing yards and 28 passing touchdowns.
“The second part, I think, and the reason the number was probably high — relatively high — was because the game was close,” Cosell continued. “And the 49ers never really, until that final touchdown by the Cards, the 49ers never really had to get out of their offensive approach.
“Whenever Lance becomes the starter, whenever that may be, my guess is that’s not doing to be what they do on a weekly basis. I think that was more to get Trey Lance comfortable.”
Cosell added that he felt the number of designed runs the 49ers asked Lance to do was “too much.”
Given what he was asked to do, what did the analyst think of Lance’s performance itself? He answered that question by stating that maybe the 49ers knew Lance isn’t ready to take the top spot on the quarterback depth chart.
“I’ll answer that this way: I think Kyle Shanahan and the staff knew that he wasn’t quite ready to do that, and that’s another reason they ran him so much,” Cosell said. “I think he made a couple of really good throws. One was dropped by [Mohamed] Sanu; it might have been his best throw of the day. He made a really good throw to [Brandon] Aiyuk; I think it might have been 3rd-and-25, and I think it was for 26 yards. But then he missed a few.
“At this point in time, and this is what he needs to work on, and I don’t know if this can be worked on through the course of a season or if you need an offseason, but he’s a rocket-ball thrower. He needs to develop a lot more pace and touch on some of the shorter throws.
“… I think there were positives [and] there were negatives. And I think you keep working on what needs to be worked on. People say, ‘Is the guy ready to be a starter?’ That’s a very subjective question. There’s a lot of factors that go into that. But they’ve got a quality starting quarterback on the roster [in Jimmy Garoppolo].”
There are a lot of fans who would prefer the 49ers move forward with their rookie rather than return to Garoppolo. Cosell doesn’t necessarily share that belief. It may not matter, though, because Lance may not even be healthy enough to play against the Colts. He is dealing with a knee injury, and it seems unlikely that San Francisco will choose to go back and forth with its quarterbacks as long as the playoffs remain a possibility.
“I know there’s a lot of people who believe just because he can run around and Garoppolo can’t, that that automatically makes him a better option,” Cosell shared. “But I think the whole point, and the reason coaches work 16, 17 hours a day, is they want the quarterback to execute the offense. And I think, at this point in time, Jimmy Garoppolo executes the offense better than Trey Lance. But the bottom line is Trey Lance has started one game, so this is not a knock on Trey Lance. This is just where he is right now.”
You can listen to the entire conversation with Cosell below.
Trey Lance started his first NFL game this past weekend, replacing an injured Jimmy Garoppolo. The rookie quarterback’s performance had its ups and downs. Despite the defeat and the San Francisco 49ers falling to 2-3 on the season, the outing was an excellent opportunity for Lance to learn and gain valuable experience.
General manager John Lynch joined KNBR today. He offered an evaluation of Lance’s first start and didn’t feel the moment was too big for the 21-year-old.
“I think that was the case from the very first play,” Lynch said on the Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks show. “You know, welcome to the NFL. J.J. Watt and Chandler Jones blow by our offensive line on the first play, and Trey’s got enough athleticism and instinct to pull up and make an
The San Francisco 49ers hoped quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo would be able to take part in today’s practice and test whether his right leg was strong enough to play on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. Garoppolo didn’t, and he has now missed an entire week’s worth of practice.
After practice, head coach Kyle Shanahan said the 49ers are ruling Garoppolo “out” for the Week 5 matchup and that rookie Trey Lance would start in the veteran’s place. With Garoppolo sidelined, Lance has received the majority of the practice reps this week.
“The more reps you get, the better you’re going to get,” general manager John Lynch said this morning on KNBR. “He does things exceptionally well. I think he’s taken to our offense well. With every rep, he’s going to get
The San Francisco 49ers have ruled out quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. That means head coach Kyle Shanahan will rely on rookie Trey Lance to knock off the division leaders in his first NFL start.
It isn’t easy to know what to expect from the rookie. Last weekend was his first extended playing time. While things started somewhat shaky for the 21-year-old quarterback, he did appear to get more comfortable as the game progressed.
Lance finished the game 9-of-18 passing for 157 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 41 rushing yards on seven carries.
What does Shanahan expect from his rookie on Sunday?
“Even quarterbacks who have played a thousand games before, you have quarterbacks who are great
Trey Lance was 17-0 as a starter at North Dakota State. Before him, Easton Stick was 49-3 as a starter. Before either of them, Carson Wentz impressed pro scouts during his 20-3 collegiate run.
Five years after Wentz’s first NFL start, Lance is getting his chance. A calf injury has sidelined Jimmy Garoppolo, so the No. 3 overall pick will start Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.
One former Bison quarterback is excited for the other.
“I definitely did get to know Trey a little bit over the last couple of years, and even going into the pre-draft process,” Wentz told Rich Eisen today. “Great kid. Great kid. [He’s] got a great head on his shoulders, and I love his
