49ers: 5 most competitive position battles so far at OTAs
By Peter Panacy
No. 4: Jimmy Garoppolo leads at quarterback, but Trey Lance is closing in
During the first week of San Francisco’s OTA sessions, Jimmy Garoppolo looked like a polished veteran not suffering any sort of setbacks related to his 2020 ankle injuries, while Trey Lance very much appeared like the promising first-year player who was still awfully raw.
Those statements appear to remain fully true after the second full week, but Lance flashed some solid improvement in Week 2 of OTAs and cut down on many of the sailed passes he was experiencing during the first week.
And according to The Athletic’s David Lombardi, Lance has seen a steady uptick in field reps despite some of his early gaffes:
Garoppolo has looked sharp/in command. Lance has definitely been more tentative than Garoppolo, but that’s to be expected. Anyone who proclaimed Lance would waltz in and commandeer QB1 spot wasn’t operating in reality. It’s early in the process and situation is what we expected
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) June 3, 2021
This is indicative of the 49ers giving Lance every chance he needs to close the gap between himself and Garoppolo.
While it isn’t likely to happen anytime soon, signs are pointing to that gap closing a bit faster than it often can between a raw first-year rookie and an established veteran under center.
Don’t expect the discussion about this position battle to go away anytime soon.