I strongly considered going to Chicago for Week 8 to watch the 49ers play the Bears. Specifically Week 7 was important because I predicted to friends and family by this game Trey Lance would be the starter for the 49ers due to an injury to Jimmy G. I’m not going to this game due to Covid concerns and also because Week 7 turned into Week 5.
I was on board with Jimmy G starting the season and holding out as long as possible before inserting Trey Lance into the starting lineup mainly because:
- Trey has only started 1 game in the last 636 days. I don’t care how talented you are as a QB you can’t go that long with meaningful practice and game reps.
- 3 of the first 4 games included playing against the Eagles front 7 (I know they looked like trash against the Cowboys week 3), Packers, and Seahawks. This schedule isn’t good for a veteran QB so it definitely isn’t an ideal start for any rookie.
- In addition to the lack of reps people forget Trey went to a lower level Division I college. There’s an adjustment period that needs to take place in practice going from the competition he played against on a regular basis to playing in live games against NFL competition.
- Jimmy G is injury prone. Every 49er fan should know this so there isn’t any reason to rush Trey Lance to start the beginning of the season. I’ve said in previous articles Trey will start when Jimmy G gets hurt and know we’ve crossed that bridge.
When Trey Lance is allowed to do more than a read-option or run play in a game, it’s easy to see why he isn’t fully ready to take over the starting job but also easy to see why the 49ers drafted him. Trey Lance extends plays with his feet, he throws the deep ball, the offense looks like it has juice when he’s settled in the game and the offense doesn’t seem stagnant for long periods.
If Jimmy G wasn’t hurt, this game against the Arizona Cardinals should be the game Trey Lance gets his first start because the offense at this point is boring, doesn’t have juice and is predictable more often than it should be. Also, Jimmy doesn’t throw the deep ball preferring to work the middle of the field and doesn’t extend plays. In the NFL for a team to be considered a serious threat that team needs to be able to get cheap TD’s, meaning 5-play 78-yard drives, 4-play 68-yard drives. Trey Lance has the ability to make this happen. Under Jimmy the 49ers have to consistently crank out 11 and 12-play 75-yard drives to be successful and that’s too much ask any team to do every game over the course of a season.
Trey Lance is the only chance the 49ers have to beat the Cardinals today. If Jimmy G was the QB, the Cardinals would win this game and the only question would be by how much ? Best case scenario if the 49ers beat the Cardinals, expect Trey Lance to start in 2 weeks against the Colts. If not, the 49ers will drop to 2-3, be at the bottom of the division and Kyle will use the loss as a reason to re-insert Jimmy G as starting QB. This game is HUGE in a lot of ways for 49er Faithful.
My 49er content is exclusively for 49erscap.com. Follow me on Twitter @peerless1sports. Thank you for reading and feel free to leave a comment or question.
About Author
