Kyle Shanahan Says Trey Lance is Ready to Start But Won't Name Him the Starter Yet
Finally, a public vote of confidence for Trey Lance from someone important in the 49ers organization.
"That's why we looked into trading Jimmy Garoppolo," head coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday at the NFL's owners' meetings, "because we obviously believe that Trey Lance can be a starter and we're ready to do that."
Sounds great! Although technically, Shanahan stopped short of actually naming Lance the starter. Shanahan said Lance "can be a starter." Big difference.
Then Shanahan walked back his statement and reiterated general manager John Lynch, who said Monday that the 49ers will not release Jimmy Garoppolo.
"We're not just going to get rid of a good quarterback because we have other quarterbacks on the roster," Shahanahan said. "Quarterbacks are really hard to come by. Some teams don't have any at all. The fact that we have three we're happy with, that is a good thing. You always want to upgrade your team. Usually, only one guy can play. We know all our guys are capable of starting. Jimmy has done a great job for us. We brought Trey here to be that eventually, and I think that will be sooner than later."
Again, vague. What is sooner than later? Is that Week 1? Week 10? 2023? I guess we'll find out if the 49ers never find a trade partner for him.
One thing looks certain -- Garoppolo will be on the team when training camp starts. And Shanahan indicated the 49ers will have a quarterback competition."
"Jimmy's a good quarterback," Shanahan said. "He's not easy for anyone to beat out. Trey wasn't ready to beat him out last year. He'll be definitely closer to that this year if it happens, but it's something we won't have to worry about until training camp. Usually when you have a situation like that, it makes everyone better anyway."
Sounds like the 49ers are hedging their bets in case Lance doesn't live up their expectations.
Stay tuned.
