49ers news: Kyle Shanahan says Trey Lance has ‘chance’ of starting

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t automatically close the book on the idea rookie QB Trey Lance could start over Jimmy Garoppolo in 2021.

It’s possible San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance winds up being the team’s starter over the incumbent, Jimmy Garoppolo, at some point in 2021. Perhaps as soon as Week 1.

Of course, according to that now-infamous press conference, Shanahan also acknowledged none of us could be alive at any given time in the near future, so it’s impossible to say with any certainty who’ll be starting under center for the Niners at any point this season.

But when appearing on PodcastOne’s The Michael Irvin Podcast with Michael Irvin, Shanahan left open the door to the possibility Lance secures the job sooner than later.

When asked by Irvin, if Lance were to come in during OTAs and be “off the charts,” Shanahan said:

"Yeah, there’s a chance for that at every single position on our team. So there definitely is the way that you’re saying about Trey. I’m not trying to give [Pro Football Talk’s Mike] Florio some big headline that he makes an annoying statement out of. But, hell yeah, there is.I think that would be really hard. Jimmy is a really good quarterback. [Lance] isn’t just coming in and trying to take out some bridge quarterback or something. Jimmy is a guy who we brought in here to be our franchise quarterback, and it really worked out for one year, and it doesn’t mean it can’t work out. We just hope he stays healthy."

From the sound of it, Shanahan isn’t automatically dismissing the idea Lance could overtake Garoppolo on the depth chart from the get-go.

Related Story: 4 rookies to watch during 49ers OTAs

But considering Lance, the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, played only one game in 2020 before the pandemic shut down the rest of his campaign, it’s understandable why San Francisco would want to be both cautious and conservative with the rookie’s development.

Lance was widely viewed as being the rawest of any of the top signal-callers in this year’s class, albeit the one with potentially the highest ceiling behind Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who went No. 1 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

So, at least from Shanahan’s perspective, the 49ers feel like they have two quarterbacks who can shoulder the load.

“Trey has that ability, too,” Shanahan continued. “He’s played one year of college football. He missed all of last season. So, it’s not coming in at all and expecting that to happen. I don’t know what to expect. I expect him to be a really good player.”

Diving deeper into Kyle Shanahan’s comments about 49ers QB competition

Simply put, Shanahan is saying everything he should about the upcoming competition without truly saying anything.

The probable intention is to let Lance develop behind Garoppolo without committing to anything whatsoever. It’s perfectly sensible to admit Lance could win the job, but he has an awfully long way to go before getting there.

Meanwhile, the Niners would ideally like to bolster Garoppolo’s trade value in one way or another by showcasing as much of his upside as possible, which would include staying healthy. As Shanahan also mentioned to Irvin, that was the prime reason why San Francisco acted aggressively and moved up in this year’s draft to take Lance.

About the only key takeaway from the head coach’s comments, though, is the 49ers won’t hesitate to put Lance into the starting lineup once they feel he’s ready to go, namely because there wasn’t any outright statement committing to Garoppolo getting the starter’s job for 2021 in guaranteed fashion.

Shanahan wouldn’t make that kind of comment anyway. Why would he?

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