49ers must have open quarterback competition in training camp

After drafting Trey Lance in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the 49ers should allow him to prove himself early in an open quarterback competition.

The San Francisco 49ers made a massive swing to trade up in the 2021 NFL Draft and grab former North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance with the No. 3 overall selection.

Lance, who will turn 21 years old next week, is a player general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan hope will not only be their starter at the position for the next few years, but also for the next decade-plus. The Niners have entered the new generation of mobile quarterbacks, and it should be exciting to see what Lance can do in Shanahan’s offense down the road.

One of the supposed benefits of Lance’s landing spot, outside now being coached by one of the NFL’s foremost offensive minds, is that he doesn’t have to be forced to start right away due to the presence of Jimmy Garoppolo on San Francisco’s roster.

So, unlike the top two picks in this year’s draft — the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence and the New York Jets’ Zach Wilson — the expectations have been set rather low for Lance’s rookie campaign, something suggested both by the betting lines (DraftKings has Lance at plus-500 odds to win Offensive Rookie of the Year) and comments from both Lynch and Shanahan after he was drafted.

But that doesn’t mean Lance should just be locked into the QB2 position on the depth chart and put in a situation where Garoppolo has to lose the job in order for the rookie to see the field in 2021.

Instead, the 49ers should have a legitimate open quarterback competition in camp, allowing Lance to prove that he is up for the job. They shouldn’t let Garoppolo’s salary dictate the choice of who ultimately starts for the Niners this season.

Why a quarterback competition benefits Trey Lance, 49ers

It’s true, Lance is still raw in some areas, especially in his accuracy in the intermediate areas of the field, a spot where Garoppolo actually thrives. But he also gives the 49ers the most dynamic option under center with the ability to throw the ball deep effectively and to extend plays with his legs when the protection breaks down.

It’s also true Shanahan’s offense is notoriously difficult to master and that veterans like Garoppolo and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan needed a full season to master the playbook and didn’t hit their strides until year two in the system.

But Lance is considered one of the more intelligent quarterbacks as he enters the league, which could work to his benefit in terms of learning the offense.

The biggest knock against giving Lance the keys this early in his career is simply that he hasn’t played that much football and hasn’t played hardly at all since the 2019 college football season.

To me, that feels like a solid reason to let the rookie play, make his mistakes, and hopefully grow from those errors early in his career.

If Garoppolo starts in 2021 and is then traded next offseason, then Lance will be inked in as the starter in 2022, but that means it will have been nearly two full years between Lance’s last game as a Bison (Oct. 3, 2020, against Central Arkansas) and his first full NFL game, which would likely take place in the first week of September 2022.

So, yes, Lance is the long-term plan at quarterback, and the 49ers are more concerned with whether he’s the man under center in September of 2022 than September of 2021, but the extended break is an unusual situation and one the Niners should avoid prolonging if they don’t have to.

Certainly, there is concern the rest of the roster is Super Bowl-ready as it heads into 2021, and that having a rookie quarterback in the lineup could derail that even if he outplays all expectations.

But I’m not advocating Lance should be the starter in Week 1 regardless of the situation, rather he should be given the opportunity to show that he might be more prepared to start than most pundits would have thought.

And if he beats out Garoppolo, whose time in San Francisco is nearing its end anyway, then that gives the 49ers a very expensive backup, but it also means fans can see the dynamic rookie during his first season, something that should make for some exciting football.