San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has had a chance to watch the film from Friday night's 28-21 preseason win over the Green Bay Packers. It was an opportunity for a lot of young players to shine. But, more importantly, it was a chance for them to gain valuable experience.
Second-year quarterback Trey Lance, the team's starter, finished the night 4-of-5 for 92 yards, a touchdown, and a perfect passer rating of 158.3. He was among the highest-graded 49ers players by Pro Football Focus. After reviewing the film, Shanahan said that his evaluation of the 22-year-old quarterback isn't much different from what he said last night.
"He did a good job, didn't have any bad plays, was consistent in what he did, and it was a good first outing for him," Shanahan said of Lance.
Rookie cornerback Samuel Womack finished the game with the team's highest Pro Football Focus grade, helped by his team-leading two interceptions.
"We felt him out there with those picks and stuff, and I thought he did a real good job in his coverage, too," Shanahan said. "I mean, his pick over the middle, I thought was the best. Just the coverage that he had on it. The second one, just for him to keep fighting and be able to come down with it—I think that was the first one. But he had a good first outing. He's got to clean some stuff up and continue improving in the run game and some pass game stuff. But he had a good first [game]."
Second-year running back Trey Sermon is working to prove himself after only 41 carries during his rookie campaign. He is competing in a talented running back room.
"I was real happy with Trey," Shanahan shared. "There's things that we wanted him to improve on from last year. He's shown that in training camp every single day that he's gotten the opportunity to, and I thought he did the same thing last night. I didn't think he had any really good looks that he should have gotten more on, but he didn't hesitate. He hit the hole hard, and I thought he did a really good job with his opportunities."
Shanahan also liked what he saw from his two guards, second-year player Aaron Banks and rookie Spencer Burford. Each has an opportunity to start this season.
"It was good to play them a bunch because they both need it," the coach said. "We kept Burford in there a little longer because he's a little less experienced. They need these three games, but I thought they showed out there why we believe in them, and we're real excited about them. Hopefully, it will get better each week here up to Week 1."
