Quarterback struggles have been a theme from the early portion of 49ers training camp, particularly on the third day when first-year starter Trey Lance tossed an interception while only completing a few of 10 or 11 throws depending on who’s tracking you follow.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan, despite some of the mistakes under center, likes what he’s seen from his QBs. He told reporters ahead of Friday’s practice that training camp is a good time to make some of the mistakes his signal callers are making.
“But I just like that they’re ripping it,” Shanahan said. “What you don’t want guys to do, especially in training camp, is say, ‘I thought it was there, but I don’t want to throw a pick, so I checked it down.’ Sometimes you need to know whether it was there and the only way you do that is by letting it rip.”
This was a talking point with Patrick Mahomes in his first training camp as the Chiefs starter in 2018. He made a lot of mistakes and threw a bunch of interceptions because he was testing the boundaries of what his skill set could and could not do against NFL defenses.
There’s surely some of that with Lance too.
A lot has been made of the learning curve Lance will have in his first year as an NFL starter with such little game experience under his belt. Shanahan’s role in his QB’s 2022 campaign can’t go understated though. Eventually the onus will be on Lance to be a playmaker regardless of what’s happening on the sideline, but if the team is going to reach the heights it did in 2021, there’ll be some responsibility on the head coach to put the young QB in positions to succeed.
That’s where these practice mistakes can come in handy.
“That’s why you don’t kill guys for picks in practice,” Shanahan said. “If it becomes too much then you have to start coaching them how not to do it, but at least you got an idea of what they’re capable of, what they can make, the plays that they can make. So then as a coach, you can somewhat protect him a little bit or you realize man, he’s going to throw that no matter what. So I have to make sure I want to get that first right look. And that’s what we’re working through right now.”
To be clear, it’s not necessarily a “good” thing that the QBs are struggling early. It’s also not necessarily “bad” and there are learning opportunities from the mistakes.
The next step for Lance and the 49ers QBs will be building off what they’re learning from the risks they’re taking and throws they’re making in practice, and then adapting accordingly. From there it’s on Shanahan to learn as well and ensure he’s catering the offense to his QBs’ strengths. As long as those two things come together, the 49ers’ offense should be fine in the long run.