There are many different things 49ers fans are excited to see in Trey Lance’s debut tomorrow night. First, we want to see how well he can throw the deep ball. Second, we want to see if he can extend plays by rolling out, and last but definitely not least, we want to see him take off as a runner. Yesterday Kyle Shanahan talked about coaching Lance as a runner and the one rule he has for QBs on the run.
“Every time that you evaluate a run, you always talk about ‘Alright, how would you protect yourself here? How are you going down? Are you going for more or are you sliding? Are you going head first or are you stepping out of bounds?’ I don’t ever want a guy in practice to practice diving or sliding. You don’t want to hurt a wrist or get your feet caught in an awkward way. That’s something we’re all going to see in the game. Trey says the right things. He’s a pretty good runner. He’s pretty competitive. So, I hope he takes my word for it, but sometimes those guys don’t believe how hard people hit and then they get hit a couple of times in NFL they’re like ‘Alright, now I know what you’re talking about.”
That’s one of the things I love about Kyle Shanahan. He has thought through things so much as a coach that he’s even decided that sliding to avoid injury during practice is too risky because that in itself could lead to an injury.
I really do hope we get to see Lance’s speed on display on Saturday. As for the ends of those runs, we’ll soon find out if he has the protective instincts that some of the great scramblers like Russell Wilson and Lamar Jackson possess.
There’s definitely a talent and an art to avoiding the big hit, and we won’t know for sure if Lance checks that box until we see him on the field for the first time tomorrow night.