Saturday’s practice at Levi’s Stadium highlighted an important point in the discussion revolving around the starting quarterback: Trey Lance is not ready yet.
This is not to say he won’t get there by Week 1. There are still a ton of practices and three preseason contests to go before the dust has settled and head coach Kyle Shanahan decides who the team’s best option is to win games this season.
However, the notion that the 49ers should just get it over with in early August and install Lance as the starter now is still a little far-fetched.
Take what happened Saturday during practice at Levi’s Stadium where Lance ran with the second-team offense against the second-team defense. By all accounts of reporters on site the rookie wasn’t sharp. In the ‘move the ball’ period, the Lance-led second unit didn’t score, went three-and-out twice and ended practice on an interception.
What Jimmy Garoppolo and the first team did doesn’t matter, although they did generate a touchdown and a field goal. Nevertheless, the larger point is that once the 49ers open the box that says Lance is the starter, there’s no going back. And the reason they won’t go there despite flashes of brilliance and strong practices, is because of days like Saturday.
Lance is undeniably talented. Left tackle Trent Williams called him a “generational talent” per Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. Putting a player like him in Kyle Shanahan’s offense is a good way for that player to become a superstar. The 49ers are going to exercise patience though because potentially stunting his development could lower his astronomically high ceiling.
The good news is Lance isn’t letting the bad days get to him, and Shanahan has taken notice of the rookie’s ability to learn from mistakes. Until those mistakes are eliminated almost entirely though, Lance is going to continue riding shotgun while Garoppolo drives the offense.