The 49ers made Trey Lance their selection at No. 3 overall, setting him up to take over as their starting quarterback sooner than later.
Jimmy Garoppolo has responded positively to the situation, saying he’s going to show Lance the ropes like Tom Brady did for him once upon a time.
But other players are in a little tougher spot. There’s a balance in wanting to support Garoppolo — a player who helped lead them to Super Bowl LIV — while also saying nice things about the player who will obviously take over at QB1. The team’s right tackle Mike McGlinchey tried to thread that needle during a Tuesday appearance on KNBR.
“I think all this hoopla was blown out of proportion for the last four months about what’s going on with Jimmy Garoppolo, nothing is going on with Jimmy Garoppolo,” McGlinchey said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “He’s going to be here, he’s our quarterback and our head coach and General Manager are very comfortable with that, and I think Kyle [Shanahan] clarified that after the draft with all the emotion of the press conferences over the past couple of weeks. Jimmy is our guy, and so is Trey. It’s a pick to solidify a competition in that room.”
McGlinchey noted that when the trade up to No. 3 went down, he and his teammates weren’t talking too much about it. Now that the dust has settled and Lance is the official pick, McGlinchey says Garoppolo’s presence means San Francisco doesn’t have to rush the rookie.
“Jimmy is a guy who has proven that he can take our team to the promised land,” McGlinchey said. “We were six minutes away from getting that done, and as long as he is healthy and on the field, he is a high, high-quality football player. I think with him on our team, they are comfortable picking a guy like Trey who has unbelievable upside. But he’s also a 20-year-old kid that has only played a little bit of college football, a season and a half of college football.”
Lance — who turns 21 on Sunday — is certainly inexperienced. And Shanahan said ownership is comfortable carrying Garoppolo’s $24.1 million base salary through the season. But the fact remains that the 49ers gave up significant draft capital to trade up to No. 3 overall and select a quarterback.
Given all that, it’s likely Lance will have every opportunity to show he can be the starter sooner than later.