The 49ers under head coach Kyle Shanahan have had a fluctuating Super Bowl window that’s been dependent upon the health of their starting quarterback. That’s true for most teams. Now with Jimmy Garoppolo all but gone and San Francisco turning the keys over to Trey Lance, we have to re-assess the size of their window for championship contention.
NFL.com’s Adam Schein wrote a list putting teams in order of the size of their Super Bowl window. San Francisco was listed third behind the Bills and Chiefs. While there are factors at play like Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, George Kittle and Deebo Samuel, the 49ers’ title hopes will revolve entirely around Lance.
Quarterback play matters above all else in the NFL. One QB can’t carry a team full of backups to championships, but having the best QB on the field will give a team a chance to win every game.
Lance, going into his second year as a pro and first full season as a starter, is a sizable question mark for the 49ers. His development will determine the course of the franchise for the foreseeable future.
Listing the 49ers with the third-biggest Super Bowl window means the author has a ton of faith in Lance to develop into a quarterback in the same tier as Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes – game changers who can overcome deficiencies elsewhere on the roster. That’s what San Francisco is hoping for out of the No. 3 overall pick from last year’s draft.
That window shrinks significantly though if Lance can’t find his way in the NFL. Suddenly the 49ers are without a star quarterback with their stars reaching either the end of their primes or the end of their contracts. Bad quarterback play is just too difficult to overcome, even with Samuel, Bosa, Warner and Kittle on the roster.
The 49ers’ roster on paper is on par with other Super Bowl-caliber teams. The difference is what’s happening under center. San Francisco needs a star at that spot, and if Lance is that star, their Super Bowl window is as wide as any in the NFL.
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