Trey Lance flashed his astronomical ceiling in his NFL debut. He also showed the warts that come with inexperience at the professional level. Whatever he did right wasn’t enough to move head coach Kyle Shanahan off his stance that Jimmy Garoppolo is the 49ers’ starting quarterback as long as he’s healthy.
Garoppolo is dealing with a calf injury that forced him to miss Sunday’s game in Arizona, but there’s optimism that he’ll be ready to play after San Francisco’s Week 6 Bye. Shanahan told reporters in his post-game press conference that Garoppolo is still the starting quarterback moving forward – a stance he’s held firm on since training camp began.
Lance finished Sunday 15-29 for 192 yards and an interception. He also ran a team-high 16 times for 89 yards. There were flashes of brilliance that showed why he was a top-three pick, and some low points that showed why he’s been the backup to start the year.
If Shanahan is set on starting Garoppolo, Sunday showed that Lance should at least play more often than he did prior to Garoppolo’s injury. Through three weeks Lance had just seven snaps, and only on six of those did he actually take a snap.
He looked better against the Cardinals than he did against the Seahawks, and noticeable improvement by playing makes it hard to justify keeping him on the bench. More snaps for Lance has always made sense. Now it’s clear that playing is going to be beneficial for his development. Not to mention he dramatically raises the ceiling of San Francisco’s offense.
In Garoppolo’s 10 quarters prior to getting hurt, the 49ers were averaging 4.8 yards per play. They finished Sunday with 5.7 yards per play. That’s something they need to take bigger advantage of even if they’re not going to make a change under center.
Shanahan went into the year appearing to embrace a two-quarterback system. If Garoppolo is going to remain the starter, Shanahan should stick to the plan and work in Lance more often to try and maximize the two versions of the 49ers’ offense.