Kyle Shanahan says he won’t throw Trey Lance in as speculative fix to 49ers struggles

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Trey Lance is the future of the quarterback position for the San Francisco 49ers. But 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t going to expedite the future into the present just because they’ve lost some games and had some struggles.

“You don’t just do that because you’re not playing the way you want to play and think you’re going to put a rookie in and think he’s going to be the answer to everything,” Shanahan said, via Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area. “I don’t think that’s fair to him and I don’t think that’s right for the team.”

Shanahan said it’s just a matter of time before Lance becomes the 49ers full-time option at the position. However, Lance also isn’t fully healthy right now. He didn’t practice at all last week because of a knee injury and was only limited in practice on Wednesday. If you’re not going to make the switch to a rookie hoping he’ll fix everything, you’re certainly not going to make the switch to an injured rookie.

“I don’t think it’s the right time for him to start full time right now, especially when I don’t know if he can get through practice today,” Shanahan said. “I want to see if he’s healthy today first. And then when he’s healthy, for more than one day, then we will see when it will be the best time for him.”

10 responses to “Kyle Shanahan says he won’t throw Trey Lance in as speculative fix to 49ers struggles

  1. If the 49ers hadn’t panicked and traded a boatload of future first round picks to move up to select Trey Lance, they could have stayed where they were and selected Mac Jones, a better QB. They would have been set for the next decade and also had all their first round picks.

  2. As weird as it’s getting this season with Shanahan, he’s actually navigating his QB situation pretty well. That situation, however… hoo boy. A team needing a solid QB of the present and not a ton else set themselves up with a rookie who isn’t ready, and the guy they felt so desperate to move on from that they gave up three first round picks to do it in the first place. It’s easy for the fans to throw in the towel and clamor for Lance, but they’re not the guy who has to look a locker room that thought they were playing for a championship in the eyes in October and tell them they’re cannon fodder for the development of a QB who currently can’t throw a spiral half the time.

  3. Lance has already received the same treatment Shanahan gave RG3. Why do people think this guy is a good head coach?

  4. I also don’t think it’s fair to Trey and his knees that you keep running him into the LOS.

  5. I’m looking forward to reading the book Nagy and Shanahan are collaborating on…How not to develop a QB

  6. That would be wise. Lance is not even close to being ready. I doubt that he will be ready next year either.

  7. You dont draft a player that high with one year, off of college games. High risk, and it wont work. The level of competivness Lance faced at NDSU was weak.

  8. THAT’s not why you do it.

    You do it because A) the season is probably shot, and B) to get Lance some experience for the future.

    If the season actually is shot, then this is the perfect time to get him some experience, because expectations can be lower.

    If I don’t expect them to make the playoffs, I’d be more entertained by watching Lance, than JG.

    IMO, the only valid reason not to play Lance is if KS thinks that doing so would hurt his development.

  9. “portis26 says:
    October 28, 2021 at 3:07 am
    If the 49ers hadn’t panicked and traded a boatload of future first round picks to move up to select Trey Lance, they could have stayed where they were and selected Mac Jones, a better QB. They would have been set for the next decade and also had all their first round picks.”

    Yes, and it probably would have been a better way to go.

    However, Jones is better RIGHT NOW.
    Lance might end up being better than Jones, maybe a lot better.

    If Lance becomes less than really good, the trade will be a disaster.
    On the other hand, if he is great, he will be worth all that capital.

  10. The problem isn’t just Lance and Jimmy… the problems is KS and his super-awesome-complicated offense that finds ways to not win games.

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