4 reasons 49ers must stick to starting Trey Lance, not Jimmy Garoppolo

Reason No. 2: Trey Lance’s rushing prowess gives 49ers an added dimension

There may be those who think Kyle Shanahan’s fundamental preference for a signal-caller is a traditional pocket passer, not someone like Trey Lance who has that extra X-factor by being able to scramble, either on broken plays or designed runs.

Perhaps Shanahan either changed his modus operandi or, at the very least, still entertained the idea of a Lance-like athlete under center, especially if that quarterback could still effectively deliver accurate passes from within the pocket.

At any rate, Lance’s own rushing prowess and speed are elements teams would have to game plan against, starting off against a Rams squad that has done well against the ground game this season, allowing just 3.9 yards per carry, but would now have to account for what Lance could do to pick up extra yardage.

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Even the threat of Lance taking off and running will force linebackers and safeties to cheat a bit closer towards the line of scrimmage, opening up more chances to exploit and attack other areas of the field.

It’s one of the reasons many teams around the league are starting to embrace mobile quarterbacks. And considering the Niners are likely to be underdogs in any matchup they have from this point forward for the rest of the season, they’ll need every X-factor they can get in their favor.