Instant Analysis of the QB Competition on Day 1 of Minicamp

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers just finished Day 1 of mandatory minicamp. Here's what happened in the quarterback competition between Sam Darnold and Trey Lance.

SAM DARNOLD

Took most of the reps with the first team offense (Kyle Shanahan said Trey Lance will take most of the first-string reps tomorrow). Completed 8 of 13 pass attempts with three touchdowns and one near interception that was dropped. Darnold started the session looking decisive and accurate, and threw three touchdown passes on five attempts in a 7-on-7 red zone drille. A fourth potential touchdown pass was dropped by Danny Gray, which means Darnold was locked in. He was Good Sam. But then the 49ers moved to the middle of the field and started practicing 11 on 11, and Bad Sam made an appearance. First, he forced a 7-yard pass over the middle and nearly gift-wrapped an interception to Deommodore Lenoir, who simply dropped the ball. Next play, Darnold forced a short pass to Christian McCaffrey which got broken up by Oren Burks. Next play, Darnold forced a short pass to Jordan Mason, who made a bang-bang contested catch for a gain of three yards. Next play, Darnold forced yet another short throw to Brayden Willis which got broken up again by Burks. And to top it off, on the final play of this drill, Darnold drew the defense offside, created a free play for the offense, then threw the ball away. Which means Darnold was not locked in. Bad Sam is quite similar to Bad Jimmy Garoppolo, in the sense that both make strange decisions for veterans and both force short passes to defenders standing directly in front of them. Darnold eventually bounced back with a 30-yard completion to Brandon Aiyuk on 3rd and 5, but Aiyuk had to stop and wait for the throw after beating Lenoir by five yards. A better throw would have resulted in a touchdown.

TREY LANCE

Took most of the reps with the second-team offense, and completed 9 of 14 pass attempts with four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Lance started out shaky in the red zone, as he threw the ball away twice and seemed a tad indecisive. But then Lance got hot. First, he casually completed a 25-yard pass to Ray-Ray McCloud near the right sideline. Then Lance hit Brandon Aiyuk over the middle for 15 yards on 3rd and 3. This was Lance's best pass of the day, because his release was quick, the ball was catchable and the placement was perfect. Then on next play, which was 3rd and 8, Lance fired a dart downfield to Danny Gray, who caught the ball 25 yards past the line of scrimmage, then turned and outran the defense to the end zone for a touchdown. As the practice progressed, Lance's confidence grew while Darnold's shrunk. That's why Day 1 of the 49ers' minicamp quarterback competition goes to Lance, who was decidedly more aggressive than in OTAs.