Lance needs to run offense
SAN FRANCISCO — Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t done yet! If Garoppolo’s thumb injury will require four to six weeks to heal, as one medical expert speculated, he should be ready to rock for the Super Bowl on Feb. 13.
Now all Trey Lance has to do is lead the San Francisco 49ers into the playoffs, then guide them to three playoff wins, then grab some pine, Meat.
The 49ers’ dream season continues.
This is the kind of drama Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch teed up when they drafted Trey Lance and lame-ducked Garoppolo.
It’s the kind of drama Shanahan goosed to a higher level by promising an ongoing situational role for Lance, then reneging on that promise, then hiding Lance like a stowaway.
The good news for the 49ers and their fans is that suddenly this is a more dangerous team. That’s assuming that Shanahan doesn’t decide to send a thumbchallenged quarterback out to face the Houston Texans on Sunday. That would be nuts.
Lance has to start Sunday, right? That’s logical. But when it comes to the 49ers’ quarterback situation this year, logic long ago hopped on the last train out of town.
Logic would say that Lance should have been picking up experience all season long, as Shanahan said he would, in certain packages and with garbage-time snaps. That experience seemed crucial, especially considering that Garoppolo is injury-prone.
Lance should have played the second half last week, after Garoppolo messed up his hand. Shanahan now says Lance has shown great improvement during the past month. If so, why not let him sub in for Garoppolo last Thursday, with a 10-point lead, rather than risk worsening the injury?
Had Lance been given that chance, he would be better prepared for this Sunday’s assignment.
Even though Shanahan obviously believes a healthy Garoppolo gives the 49ers the best chance to win any given game, the Texans might respectfully disagree.
Garoppolo, even 100 percent healthy, probably does not strike fear in the heart of Texans coach David Culley. Lance, on the other hand, is the kind of wild card that opposing coaches hate to deal with. There is a reason that quarterbacks who can run are basically taking over football. There is a reason the 49ers traded away three firstround picks to get Lance.
How do the 49ers’ players feel about a rusty rookie taking over the offense at a time when a playoff bid hangs on every snap? We can only guess, because no 49er is going to publicly say he doesn’t think Lance is ready.
Here’s my guess: The 49ers really respect Garoppolo. He’s a likable fellow, he works hard, he carries himself like one of the guys. But Lance brings a new jolt of excitement to the party. The 49ers understand Lance’s potential.
What offensive lineman doesn’t want to throw that extemporaneous block on a broken play to spring Lance loose? What wideout doesn’t want to go all Backyard Football with a scrambling quarterback?
Garoppolo has been a lame duck all season long, but you know who else has been a lame duck? The entire team. They’ve been tasked with treading water in a tweener season, led by a quarterback the organization wants to get rid of. They’re okay with moving on to the future, starting Sunday.
Lance was unspectacular in his one emergency fill-in start, at Arizona in Week 4. He was 15-for-29 passing, for 192 yards, and ran 16 times for 89 yards. But remember: George Kittle didn’t play in that game, and Brandon Aiyuk was in a funk and in Shanahan’s doghouse at the time, and caught two passes.
Shanahan, somewhat in desperation, called too many running plays for Lance that game, and he got banged up. That was a learning experience for the coach, too. The 49ers’ running game, even with all the injuries, is stronger now than it was then. Lance won’t have to carry the running load; he will only enhance it.
Shanahan might be wringing his hands at the prospect of having his team’s playoff hopes in the hands of a bright-green quarterback, but this is what the coach signed on for at the NFL draft.
So, here’s how I think about it: What a great spot for Lance. He gets at least two meaningful, high-stakes football games to prep him for next season. If the 49ers make the playoffs, he gets a taste of postseason ball.
That experience will give Lance a lot to take into the offseason, give him a much clearer idea of what he needs to work on.
And if Lance leads the 49ers to this season’s Super Bowl, and Shanahan is forced to choose between the rookie and the lame duck, that’s all part of the fun.