Plus, injury updates, more QB talk, and if we see a trade for a CB down the line
During a recent podcast with John Lynch, The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami asked the 49ers general manager why Trey Lance’s passes have recently sailed on the young QB.
This was a problem at North Dakota State. But then, it seemed to be resolved after a week of training camp. But, as the end of the second week happened, and even into the first preseason game, some of Lance’s accuracy issues showed up again.
Here’s Lynch on that topic and how Lance performed during his initial preseason game:
“I think it was a mixed bag. He obviously made some plays, he showed his arm talent. He did all those things well. (But) I think Kyle mentioned it and you can see it on the tape; and Kyle and I watch a lot of things together and we did. A lot of the strides he’s made in terms of some of the fundamental things that we’ve asked him to work on, he reverted a little.
And that’s not reason for panic; it’s a natural thing, it happens to a lot of players. To be able to coach that for Kyle, for (quarterbacks coach) Rich Scangarello, for (offensive coordinator) Mike McDaniel, to be able to recognize that and coach it and say, ‘Hey, the end result was pretty good but look at how much better it can be.’ So now he has tangible things to work on. I think those things are invaluable.
In today’s episode of The Shanaplan, Akash and I asked how much of Lance’s performance was transferrable?
If you panicked because Lance went 5-14, you’re ignoring a lot of what happened during the game. That includes everything from three drops to getting hit several times.
Lynch’s quote about having tangible things to work on and how that’s invaluable couldn’t be more true. Now, Lance has a game tape to look at. It’s not the same defensive looks that he saw for two and a half weeks during practice.
Transferrable traits:
- Knowing where to go with the football
- Throwing the football on time
- Playing within the structure of the offense
- Using your legs to extend the play
- Getting to your second and third progressions on multiple plays
There were a few throws that Lance would undoubtedly want back. There were plays where the ball got away from him. He’s a 21-year-old. That’s to be expected during his first preseason game.
If you were to ask someone who has no idea how this sport was played to sit down and watch cutups from the rookie QBs, they’d lean towards Lance based on what we saw — I feel strongly about that.
Now, we see how Lance progresses. That starts Thursday during joint practices against the Chargers. Remember, we didn’t see any designed runs for Lance last Saturday.
Other topics include:
- One thing we liked from Lance and one thing we didn’t
- Why this week will be big for the QB competition
- Adios, Josh Rosen
- Injury updates on Nick Bosa, Trent Williams, and Emmanuel Moseley
- Could we see a trade for a veteran CB