Will Trey Lance ever get a fair shot to be 49ers quarterback?
After suffering a season-ending foot/ankle injury in Week 2 last year and watching Brock Purdy lead the Niners to the NFC Championship, Lance has been relegated to QB2 competition with Sam Darnold in training camp this summer.
On the latest 49ers Webzone ‘No Huddle’ podcast, host Al Sacco gave his take on what’s really happening with the Lance-Darnold dynamic.
“I think the competition is rigged,” Sacco said. “You can say Sam Darnold was like the fourth quarterback to sign, he didn’t sign for a whole lot of money, whatever it was. Sam Darnold signed, I think, Day 1 of free agency. He was a priority free agent. He had a freakin’ press conference with the team. He did not come here to be the third-string quarterback. I don’t believe that. I know for a fact that Kyle (Shanahan) has liked him a long time. I think Kyle wants to see what he can do with Sam Darnold. I don’t think Sam Darnold is going anywhere.”
As for Lance, Sacco thinks he is just trade bait at this point.
“They’re gonna see what they can get for Trey Lance,” Sacco said. “I think he’s gonna be showcased preseason and then towards the end, a team that has a s–ty quarterback situation or at least an unknown quarterback situation – the Falcons are a team, the Bucs are another team – that may say, ‘OK, this guy’s got a ton of talent. Let’s get him in here, let’s see if we can develop him. He’s only 23 years old.’”
Neither Lance or Darnold has done much to separate themselves from one another at this point, but we could learn a lot on Sunday as they split reps for the preseason opener against the Raiders while Purdy sits out.
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