All eyes will be on #5 on Saturday night
The eyes of the 49ers fan base will be fixated on Trey Lance the second he takes the field on Saturday night. Finally, after all the hand-ringing about who San Francisco was going to draft and then arguing about who should be the starting quarterback, we’ll finally get to see how the kid looks two days from now. While everyone has their own expectations for what they want to see in the debut, what do the 49ers themselves expect from the third overall pick? We got some answers yesterday.
When Offensive Coordinator Mike McDaniel was asked that question, he took a cautious approach:
“You just want to see players continue to learn from mistakes. And so you’re finding those mistakes and that’s why we’re not sweating it that much when they happen. It’s more about how you respond and how you apply specific coaching because there’s a lot going on. So, you want to see him go out there and operate. You want to see no procedural penalties, and you want to see him have success and failure and learn from both.”
That’s not exactly a high bar for Lance to clear, but keep in mind how much the rookie is going to have to handle. As McDaniel himself pointed out later in his press conference, Lance has never even had someone in his helmet feeding him the plays before.
Trey, for his part, acknowledges the challenges but seems ready to face them head-on:
“Everything’s new,” He said yesterday, “Just being able to get used to everything, from the hotel the night before the game to pregame warmup. So everything’s going to be new, but at the same time, football is football. So I feel I can do everything I can do it feel as prepared as I can on Saturday.”
Basically, Lance and the team will be more focused on the process, while most fans and media may be looking more at the results. Regardless of what happens, we all know that one preseason game does not determine anybody’s legacy (except Giovanni Carmazzi).
Still, I can’t wait to watch.