The Two Quarterback System: A Result of Broski Shanahan?
Kyle Shanahan is one of the most brilliant offensive minds in the NFL. He has been around professional football his entire life and has gained a reputation as an innovator by spearheading high-powered offenses as an offensive coordinator for many years.
The 49ers Faithful were treated to another Shanahan concoction on Sunday when the Two Quarterback system was put on display like never before. But why is this the plan for the 49ers this season? Aren’t we two years removed from a Super Bowl appearance with Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback? Didn’t the 49ers trade four draft picks to select franchise quarterback Trey Lance?
Shanahan always has come off as a fresh, young head coach that players relate to. But has his friendliness with certain players created an inability for him to make tough decisions that are in the 49ers best interest?
Shanahan has created a unique persona and aura including his highly fashionable attire that include Yeezy’s, a hat game that’s bussin' and a low-key personality. This has helped him attract players and make the 49ers a desirable destination as former 49ers receiver Emmanuel Sanders shared during the 49ers 2019 Super Bowl run.
Shanahan also seems to have a friendly, sort of broski relationship with many of his players which is not typical for NFL head coaches. Let’s take a look at some of his offseason shenanigans this summer alone: he spent time in Cabo hanging out with some of his players as we learned when he was on the Mcvay and Schrager podcast earlier in the offseason. Then he was also throwing footballs at pizza ovens from rooftops while hanging out with former 49ers great Joe Staley, the ultimate Bro. This has been normal behavior for Shanahan in previous offseasons as well.
This begs the question, is Shanahan too close to his players?
This has been on display the past few seasons when he refused to admit players were draft busts, players such as Dante Pettis, Solomon Thomas and CJ Beathard. He also has a weird habit of bringing in free agent veterans he spent time with in the past regardless of how good they appear to be, case in point Tevin Coleman.
Now, the 49ers locker room appears to be in full rebellion mode full of cliques that appear to be Shanahan’s creation. Veteran leaders George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk appear to be leading a faction of the locker room that are in complete opposition to the idea of turning the starting QB job over to a rookie and are fully entrenched in support of Jimmy Garoppolo. The behavior has received bizarre levels this offseason where they have both gone out of their way to not only praise Garoppolo but also find ways to minimize the performance of Lance.
As we approach the start of the 2021 season, it appears the 49ers are committed to running a dual QB system that was put on display in preseason Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders. Now, in fairness to Shanahan, the 49ers offense was firing on all cylinders and displayed a dominance on the ground to the tune of 242 rushing yards. Although this attack looked effective in a preseason game with minimal game planning, is this the direction the coaching staff really wanted to go this season? A $27 million quarterback will be splitting time with a rookie No. 3 pick who cost the team a total of four draft selections. This is unheard of and will be unprecedented if this is the norm for any extended amount of time.
One has to wonder what is causing the 49ers to stick with an inconsistent veteran who’s injury prone instead of a promising rookie who may be unpolished but whose potential is through the roof. Time will tell what the 49ers true plans are for the season, but something doesn’t smell right in the locker room. Stay tuned.
