Why Jimmy Garoppolo Will Inevitably be Named 49ers Starting Quarterback

Trey Lance winning the starting role was always going to be difficult.

Even when he had all the momentum after about 10 days of training camp, it still didn't catapult him into heavy favor for the role.

At his Wednesday press conference, Kyle Shanahan said he has a "pretty good idea" of who the starting quarterback is. Following up, Jimmy Garoppolo stepped to the podium all smiles and vibrant about having a "pretty good idea" about who the starter is. Not really much of a poker face, eh Jimmy? But even before that presser had even occurred, you didn't really need Garoppolo to tip his hand about the starting role.

Garoppolo will inevitably be named the 49ers starting quarterback.

And that was always the skewed outcome for this. I personally disagree with the decision. I believe starting Lance from the jump is the wiser decision. Kickstarting his development and not wasting a second of his rookie contract will benefit the 49ers in the long-run. Plus, there is no better slate of games for him to get his feet wet than the first two against the Lions and Eagles.

But by electing to go with Garoppolo, Shanahan can always go with Lance at ANY point in the season. Garoppolo will certainly be on a short leash, whether because of performance or health. There will be a slim margin for error with Garoppolo. As my good friend Leo Luna of 49ers GoldMine said to me on his stream, starting Garoppolo now allows the 49ers "a way out" if things start to go south with him. They can easily make the switch to Lance and utilize him as a "reset button" because once you start Lance, there is no way Garoppolo sees the field unless Lance is injured.

While I understand this, it just seems like a waste of live game action that Lance could be getting. Instead of having him go through his growing pains immediately, he could be going through them late in the season when the 49ers are in playoff contention. Of course, he could always just light it up, but I wouldn't be so bold as to expect that.

Besides, Lance had his chances to win the starting job, though you could argue the chances were a small sample. Even though it was never made publicly, this was always a quarterback competition. The fact that Shanahan was initially going to shuffle quarterbacks against the Chargers was one indication of it. Lance needed to really put pressure on Shanahan by looking great against the Chargers, and maybe even the Chiefs. At least if he did, then Shanahan could ride those performances and easily piggyback off it to explain his decision why Lance is the starter.

Since Lance never got to prove that, the only way for him to be the starter now is to allow Garoppolo to play himself out of it. Once Garoppolo starts to look like his skittish self, watch Shanahan name Lance and praise him saying "he is ready now" and "has little to do with Garoppolo" just so Garoppolo can save some face. Maybe this is all outlandish and it is really more so that Lance isn't ready. It could be, but there isn't anything different in terms of mistakes that Lance commits that doesn't plague Garoppolo. Only except Lance can throw deep and be used as a running option.

Regardless, I strongly believe Lance will take over at some point this season.