The much-anticipated two-quarterback system in San Francisco has become four measly snaps in two games for rookie Trey Lance. When the 49ers host the Packers on Sunday night, will we see many or any plays from San Fran’s QB2?
On Friday, 49ers G.M. John Lynch said that, however it plays out, coach Kyle Shanahan makes those decisions.
“It’s all under that Shanahat [sic],” Lynch said, via Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News. “He’s got it in there. I don’t think it’s impulsive. He puts so much work in it and is so great at play calling.”
Shanahan has created the impression that, when it comes to the quarterback situation, these decisions are impulsive and not planned. If Lynch is right, then, Shanahan deliberately decided not to use Lance in Week Two. At all.
As previously suggested, Shanahan possibly has decided to go all in with Jimmy Garoppolo until he fails or suffers an injury. Indeed, they decided to draft a quarterback because of (or so they claim) Garoppolo’s inability to stay healthy. So let him do his thing, and if he gets hurt then Lance is the guy.
Until then, the 49ers will get pretty good performance from their QB1. Lynch said that Lance’s presence has “risen the level of [Garoppolo’s] game.”
Obscured by the apparently deliberate pivot to all-Garoppolo is the possibility (if not likelihood) that Lance has yet to impress. Although Lance, as Lynch said, won the scout-team award for impersonating Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, the players seem to be aligned behind Garoppolo. He hinted at that after Week One.
So it’s entirely possible that the two-quarterback system has been abandoned, with a conscious decision to ride or die with Garoppolo, confident that if Garoppolo goes down again they’ll have a much better alternative than Nick Mullens or C.J. Beathard.