Is there really a ‘Trey Lance War’ being fought out there on 49ers turf?
That’s not real, is it?
I hesitated to make this week’s Jock Blog about these hypothetical/maybe real Trey Lance Wars, because to Jock Blog about them is to give them oxygen.
But, it’s either writing about Trey or the 69-74 Giants so . . . Trey it is, sports fans!
I thought the deal was this: Kyle Shanahan makes Trey Lance the starter. The team and fan base knows that it’s a big job for a 22-year-old kid who has two NFL starts on his ledger, and only one full year at North Dakota State prior to that. The team and fan base knows that Trey will get better as the year goes on, and that in the meantime, the team can win games with its defense, its run game and the few big plays Trey can make with his legs and/or bigger arm than Jimmy Garoppolo.
Then, come January, a more seasoned Trey will be able to make a playoff run, Kyle now knowing his strengths and weaknesses a little bit more, the better to contextualize his talents into Kyle’s sophisticated play-calling.
Plus, the 49ers can run it.
Then, we all plan our trip to the Super Bowl, with Nick Bosa and Fred Warner flying the plane.
Except, Solider Field happened.
It was a serious downer, a terrible loss, and allowed me to pitch an elementary school-level temper tantrum in my living room and pout Monday morning on the air. But, I also subscribe to the 24-hour rule. You get ticked, it passes, and by mid-week you’re ready to ruin Pete Carroll’s Week 2.
Apparently, somewhere along the way— social media, talking heads, all of the above? — the bad loss in Chicago allowed some to go deeper than the 24-hour rule, and to cast NFL-level aspersions on Trey Lance and his entire career, future and being.
I’m looking at you, Mike Martz.
And Corey Wootton, who is now the Hatfield to Kyle’s McCoy.
This slander seems an unreasonable take to me.
Is it possible to hear about a ‘Trey Lance War’ and be a conscientious objector?
I know the worst thing in the media world of 2022 is to advise someone to be patient, and to watch the games but I’d advise all y’all to . . .
Be patient and watch the games?
Maybe over time you will see that Lance’s throwing motion is too elongated and is a problem in the quick-rush NFL. Maybe over time you will see Lance’s decision-making improve. Maybe over time you will see Lance continue to take unnecessary hits from big, strong NFL linebackers. Maybe over time you will see Lance incorporate sliding into his runs. Maybe over time you will see Kyle get Lance out of the pocket on rollouts more often. Maybe over time you will see Lance develop more intelligent, slight pocket movement.
Maybe over time a 22-year-old kid with three NFL starts will grow into a better player.
Maybe over time you will continue to listen to Guns N’ Roses “Patience”, and incorporate it on to your Spotify playlist. The one called “The Trey Lance Playlist”.
The most honest criticism the 49ers can hear is this: Was now the right time to groom a young QB, when you have a Super Bowl-ready roster? That question is the one they will have to wrestle with over the next 16 weeks.
The alternative was to go with Jimmy.
And you don’t want another ‘Jimmy War’, do you?
We’re all battle-scarred veterans of that conflict.
On to Week Two. Show us what you got, kid.