San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Sure, it’s the preseason, but 49ers’ new No. 1 QB generates excitement
In what might have been the most meaningful meaningless game in San Francisco 49ers’ history, Trey Lance turned the first game of his very own era into a party Friday night at Levi’s Stadium.
We’re talkin’ about practice, people. It was a practice game, with the big-time stars of the 49ers and the visiting Green Bay Packers taking the evening off, but why toss a thimble of water onto a roaring bonfire?
On his 49ers’ 11th offensive play of the game, from their own 24, Lance took a short dropback into the pocket, gave a brief look downfield and fired a strike to rookie wideout Danny
Quarterback Trey Lance’s short stint against the Packers was highlighted by a 76-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Danny Gray.
Gray.
Gray was two steps behind safety Dallin Leavitt along the left sideline, hauled in the rainbow in stride at the Green Bay 40, slipped Leavitt’s diving tackle attempt and sprinted to the house.
The pass traveled 34 yards in the air (per NFL Stats). If Lance’s throwing motion still has a bit too much windup to satisfy the passing-mechanics experts, apparently it can be effective anyway. For what it’s worth (a lot), Jimmy Garoppolo had only one completed pass the previous two seasons that went at least that far in the
air, a 47-yarder last season. So when coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game that there really aren’t more plays available to Lance than there were to Garoppolo, because “Jimmy could throw the ball, throw it real far,” that seemed to be very diplomatic to Garoppolo.
Lance’s TD play was thirdstringer (Gray) against thirdstringer (Leavitt, a vet), but what does that mean? Shrug.
But the 49ers and their fans were looking for a sign that their new starting quarterback is for real, and possibly an upgrade, and they got what seemed to them like a blazing neon sign.
Professional observers gave Lance the critical equivalent of a golf clap for his brief appearance, but here’s a little secret: The rest of the league was watching and raised an eyebrow. If you consider the best 10 (on paper) of the league’s 32 teams to be legit Super Bowl hopefuls, the 49ers are the only team of that group with a real QB question, in that they have a starting quarterback who is not at least a proven star. The closest thing to untested among the elite is the Chargers’ Justin Herbert, going into his third season as starter. It’s a group of medium to big stars in their primes. Even young/old guys Tom Brady and Russell Wilson.
If that group of top-10 quarterbacks was lurking in a Wild West saloon, they’d all be throwing back rotgut whiskey and lighting matchsticks on their beards, while Lance would be the guy walking in, ordering a Diet Pepsi, and asking where a fellow can find a good game of Dungeons & Dragons.
Lance is the NFL’s UFO, a wild card. So even the meaningless
Niners quarterback Trey Lance (5) leads the team onto the field before Friday’s preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.
games aren’t.
Friday he played the first quarter, 11 total plays, and punched out while it was still happy hour. He completed 4 of 5 passes for 92 yards. He was sacked once. His incompletion was a medium-distance sideline pass to Gray, about a yard too wide, a play Lance needs to work on.
His meaningless passer rating was a “perfect” 158.3, so one lesson he took away is that if he wants a fat passer rating, just throw a 76-yard touchdown pass every now and then.
Lance’s first six plays were run out of the T, with him under
center. The last five plays, he lined up in the shotgun, which, based on practices, seems to be the formation where he feels most comfortable and from which he does the most damage.
Lance never rolled out, never ran an option, never had a run called for him. Shanahan was in vanilla play-calling mode. On Lance’s second play, he took a short drop-back, quickly decided nobody was open, and scooted straight up the middle for 7 yards, sliding neatly and efficiently to safety.
For him, that was a highlight.
“I’m excited to watch it,” said Lance, who wore a sweater with a happy face on it to the postgame presser. “I got down, that was my first time sliding in my whole entire life.”
He said he practiced sliding in his head Friday morning in his hotel room. So he has already mastered a skill that might save his life this season. Good sign.
The analysts won’t go wild over Lance’s debut as the 49ers’ No. 1 quarterback. They shouldn’t. But if anyone wanted to do so, they might point out that he was working without the team’s best football
player, left tackle Trent Williams, who had the night off. Also not suited up: tight end George Kittle, wideout/runner Deebo Samuel, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and running backs Elijah Mitchell and Kyle Juszczyk.
Imagine what Lance might do with his full crew of star playmakers.
The training wheels are off, and the great adventure has begun.
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