Originally posted by JTB1974:
Because Trey needs reps. He needs to play. You aren't going to skip pass his growing pains just because he is another year older. Can't keep wasting his rookie contract. If you sit him again you are wasting 3 years of his rookie contract. Because his 3rd year would be him going through the growing pains, the ups and downs. You would rather him do that in his 2nd year and have him be fully ready in year 3. Trading 3 1st RD picks to draft a QB at 3 and have him sit 2 straight years, Just so you could start an average QB would be malpractice. Jimmy G a QB nobody around the league wants and yet he is suppose to our best option in 2022?
I think we can all agree that Trey needs reps to get better. That he needs to play for his individual growth.
What this analysis fails to account for is the teams position now (just like last year). If the team was not set up to go on a deep run and contend for a possible Super Bowl appearance and win, this is a no brainer. You move on from Jimmy and you hand it over to Trey and let him take his lumps. The issue is the team is set up to compete for the ultimate prize, and you have to weigh how much of Trey's individual growth is going to cost the team in pursuit of that goal.
Most 49ers homers respond to this in this way: They say Jimmy's play is easily replaceable and it won't be hard for Trey Lance to at least play at Jimmy's level next season. The problem with is this is we just don't know what Trey is going to look like with a full offseason and people are going to look at last year differently. My argument is that Jimmy Garoppolo, and I really can't stand the guy as a player, was significantly better than the Trey Lance we saw last season. He's much better at playing the position and managing the game even with his obvious physical and mental limitations he brings to the table. This shouldn't be a surprise. Trey Lance has no experience, played for a small school that dominated its competition, and was universally looked at as a player that needed to be developed potentially over multiple years. Now can Trey Lance come back in after a full offseason and put this discussion to bed? Definitely. Is there anything we've seen as fans to really provide evidence that it is a surety? No. In fact the best evidence we have is the last time the team played meaningful games, and they were very high stakes games obviously, the coaches didn't just play Jimmy, they played him through serious injuries for a QB.
So if you shopped Jimmy and didn't get the offer you were looking for, it would be prudent to hang onto him and get a look at Lance after the offseason, before you make a final decision on Jimmy's status. If Trey comes back and hasn't taken the steps and is a player the coaches can't comfortably trust guiding a potential Super Bowl team, you can play a guy you obviously don't love but can count on to be functional. Would this be good for Trey's development? Maybe not. But his development is secondary to winning games and I promise you the coaches and players feel this way.
[ Edited by SmokeyJoe on Apr 4, 2022 at 7:11 PM ]
