“The transition is so much easier now than it ever was…he needs to be on that field”
When Sean Salisbury told Niners Nation that Trey Lance should be the Week 1 starter, many brushed it off due to Salisbury’s short NFL career. They couldn’t look past the messenger and hear the message.
Perhaps this messenger will make more of an impact. During today’s Oh, Hey There podcast, Leo Luna and Javier Vega pointed out something Hall of Famer Steve Young said on Monday Night Countdown regarding the 49ers’ quarterback situation.
The game is college, right? When Trey Lance got on the field the other night, like, ‘wow,’ when Justin Fields on got on the field, ‘wow.’ The transition is so much easier than it ever was, or ever could be, for these young college players coming into the pros – get them on the field. More than ever. If it’s a close call at all, go with these dynamic young players that can get you all those yards…and they’ll grow into the job.
You have a Super Bowl ready team with Trey Lance. This team is going to the Super Bowl. This is the guy that they gave up, what…five times in NFL history that teams have given up three first round draft choices ever. How could you speak more loudly that you don’t want Jimmy Garoppolo than to do that?
As if that wasn’t enough, Young continued by pointing out the bind the 49ers have put themselves in by giving up so much to acquire the number three overall pick:
“John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan took the offseason and said to themselves, ‘What do we want to do with all these draft picks at quarterback? Oh, let’s pile them all in to the future, because we do not want the guy we have.’ You could not have spoken more clearly or loudly. So all I’m saying is…barring something unforeseen, he needs to be on that field. Jimmy has the locker room. If Jimmy has a great start to the season, it just gets more complicated and more difficult, because you’ve got this guy that you’ve just told everyone, ‘We don’t want you. We want this guy.’ You couldn’t speak it any more loudly. No question that reason would say, ‘You’ve been to the Super Bowl. Keep playing, and take us there again,’ but the brain trust has said something completely opposite.”
Young speaking up is interesting because he knows the weight that his voice carries. He knows he is basically setting the news cycle in the Bay Area by saying what he said.
He said it anyway.
And while some of you will dismiss the comments because he’s a paid NFL analyst, Young is also smart enough to talk about the situation much more diplomatically than that if he wanted to avoid becoming a headline.
He said it anyway.
Hopefully, when Kyle Shanahan speaks with the media again on Wednesday, someone will ask him what he thinks about Steve Young’s comments. And before you get mad at me for writing about the quarterbacks again, remember: the 49ers could end all this discussion by simply saying that Jimmy Garoppolo is going to start Week 1 against the Lions. They had the opportunity to do that. In fact, they’ve had the opportunity to do that several teams, and again, and again, and again, they have declined to do that.
For more on the QBs as well as many other topics, listen to today’s Oh, Hey There podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Other topics in today’s episode
- The biggest difference between Jimmy & Trey
- Why Mike McGlinchey will be better this year
- What is Deebo’s future with the team?
- Stock Up/Stock Down, rookie edition