The Trey Lance Express hasn’t left the station quite yet.
The 49ers rookie quarterback turned in an up-and-down performance in his second career start against the Houston Texans. While the 49ers’ ceiling looks higher with Lance at the controls, the floor also looks lower.
Lance finished 16-of-23 for 249 yards, two touchdowns and an interception through the air. He also carried the ball eight times for 31 yards and had a potential three-yard rushing touchdown wiped out by a Brandon Aiyuk holding penalty. Despite the promise Lance showed, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Monday’s conference call that he’s still holding out hope Jimmy Garoppolo (thumb) can practice this week.
“We’re going to put together a gameplan for both and hopefully he'll be able to practice on Wednesday,” Shanahan told reporters, via 49ers Communications.
Judging from Shanahan’s postgame comments Sunday, Garoppolo will be given every possible opportunity to start in Week 18.
“If Jimmy's 100 percent healthy and could do everything, like perfect, then I would definitely go with Jimmy,” Shanahan said Sunday. “I'm not just going to throw a guy in after one game like this, when Jimmy's been doing it for us all year. I think it's going to be hard for Jimmy to be a hundred percent, which is how most people are right now at this time of year. But Trey did a good job, if Jimmy can't go, we won't hesitate at all. But if we feel Jimmy can go and play confident, then Jimmy will be out there.”
It felt like Lance took more downfield shots during the game and the numbers back it up. According to ESPN’s Next Gen Stats, Lance averaged more air yards per attempt than any 49ers quarterback in a game the past three seasons.
Dieter Kurtenbach of the Bay Area News Group showed three Garoppolo throw charts next to Lance’s on Sunday. As you can see, Lance made four throw attempts over 20 yards (including a 45-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel) in his outing, compared to three combined throws from Garoppolo in the game’s Kurtenbach highlighted. He also threw outside the numbers more, while Garoppolo’s throws are often clustered tightly near the middle of the field.
The Niners went from this, this, and this… to this. pic.twitter.com/XC0NubiJ2q
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dieter) January 3, 2022
After digesting some tape of Lance’s start in a high-stakes environment, Shanahan said he came away impressed.
“I thought Trey did some really good things. He was thrown into a real tough situation in terms of just where our team was at, how big of a game that was, basically being a playoff game,” Shanahan said. “I thought he went in there, handled the pressure real well. Got off to a slow start, him and the rest of the offense, which I thought put a little bit more pressure on him also. And to watch him just respond, especially after that pick, I thought he had a real successful day. Good to get his first win off his back.”
While Lance is probably more capable of scoring four touchdowns for the 49ers through the air and/or on the ground, he’s also probably more capable of turning the ball over four times in a game. Lance certainly looked like a rookie in the first half with some head-scratching throws but also showed flashes of sharp decision-making with throws over the middle. In short, he looked a like a promising rookie.
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Once again, all eyes will be on Garoppolo’s thumb, as he tries to recover from a Grade 3 ligament sprain and small fracture he suffered in Week 17 against the Tennessee Titans.
“I think pain is a huge deal, but I think Jimmy will be alright with that when the time comes to have to go through it,” Shanahan said. “I think the more days you can take off, the more you give it a chance to stay healthy and kind of relatch and not to make it worse. And that's the fine line of knowing how far you can get with it. And at the same time, also trying to give it just a little extra time to get a little stickier.”
Shanahan also addressed a recent report that Garoppolo needs offseason thumb surgery, saying, “I've been made aware of that surgery is a possibility, but as of right now, he would not need it.”
So, don’t exchange your No. 10 jerseys for No. 5 just yet. Garoppolo could still be under center for the 49ers’ most meaningful snaps of the year, starting with this Sunday.
