49ers vs. Lions: 5 overreactions from San Francisco’s Week 1 win

No. 2: 49ers won’t use Trey Lance for anything but read-option plays

Yes, Trey Lance was credited for the 49ers’ first points of 2021, a 5-yard touchdown pass to Trent Sherfield to open up the scoring.

But that proved to be Lance’s only pass on four plays he saw, the other three being rushing attempts where he netted just 2 yards total on what appeared to be poorly executed read-option looks.

Or, at the very least, designed run plays.

With the Niners having a commanding lead in the fourth quarter, there was a thought Kyle Shanahan would give Lance some more field time, although hindsight might suggest letting Jimmy Garoppolo handle those late high-intensity snaps over the rookie was a smart move.

Nevertheless, Week 1 did nothing to answer what kind of use Lance will see over the course of his first year.

Will Shanahan let Lance do more with his arm in meaningful situations? Or is Lance’s rookie campaign only going to be marked by gadget-type plays where it’s pretty obvious what San Francisco’s offense is going to do in those situations?

Right now, those answers aren’t anywhere close to being clear.