49ers Training Camp Day 1 breakdown: Quarterbacks

Day 1 of the San Francisco 49ers training camp is officially over, as head coach Kyle Shanahan conducted a light, padless practice where the team installed primary shorter-area concepts, as well as various facets of the run game.

Both the offense and the defense had their moments on Day 1, with a ton of spotlight being shined on the quarterbacks.

How did Trey Lance and Sam Darnold fare to begin training camp? Here's a full breakdown of every throw each quarterback made on Day 1, with a full description in the video below as well.

11-on-11s: 1st Period

Trey Lance (QB1)

Trey Lance finds Tyrion Davis-Price for a 15-yard catch on a wheel route near the left sideline. Lance faced pressure from his blindside, but found Davis-Price, who ran a solid route out of the backfield and smoothly caught the pass in stride for a solid gain after the catch.

Sam Darnold (QB2)

Sam Darnold rolled out to his left on a play-action bootleg, but couldn't find anyone downfield and succinctly rushed for zero yards before being met by a defender.

7-on-7s: 1st Period

Sam Darnold (QB1)

Sam Darnold throws an incompletion to Deebo Samuel, who was closely covered on a slant route by Charvarius Ward. The ball was behind Samuel, who was cutting in.
Sam Darnold hits Ross Dwelley on a checkdown, with Oren Burks there immediately after the catch.
Sam Darnold hits Deebo Samuel on an out-route, quickly making the throw as Deommodore Lenoir played off-coverage.
Sam Darnold hit Jordan Mason in the flat for a completion.

Trey Lance (QB2)

Trey Lance hit Ross Dwelley for a checkdown. I felt he could've ripped it to the intermediate portion of the field on this play, but got the ball out on his second progression and took the short gain.
Trey Lance hits Brayden Willis for a quick checkdown. Linebackers were playing off-coverage in zone, and the short middle of the field was open.
Trey Lance throws an incompletion to Cameron Latu with Tayler Hawkins close in coverage. It was a tough angle, but it looked as if this pass was a drop from Latu, as it hit him on the hands on an out-route. Could've been slightly more outside, placement-wise, but arguably a drop here.
Trey Lance throws an incompletion over the middle of the field. Could've been a PI towards the intended receiver, but the ball was off-target and there was no flag thrown on the play. This was Lance's worst throw of the day.

11-on-11s: 2nd Period

Trey Lance (QB1)

Trey Lance throws an incompletion intended for Deebo Samuel. Tried dropping in a bucket pass to the far sideline on a crosser for Samuel, but great coverage by Fred Warner, who was step-in-step with the receiver and made a fantastic deflection for a pass-breakup. Thought it could've maybe been thrown a little sooner, but a tough completion to make and a really good defensive play.
Trey Lance finds Jauan Jennings on a quick curl-like route to the left side for 8-10 yards, which was fairly contested. Drake Jackson was in the mix on a pressure.
Trey Lance finds Brandon Aiyuk for about a 10-yard completion on the left sideline. The ball was high, but only where Aiyuk could get it, and the receiver made an extremely impressive high-pointed catch over Deommodore Lenoir for the completion.

Sam Darnold (QB1)

Sam Darnold sacked on his first passing attempt of the session.
Sam Darnold hits Brandon Aiyuk for 15-20 yards on the right sideline. Aiyuk, running a deep curl or comeback, was wide open on the route and Darnold delivered an accurate ball.

Trey Lance (QB2)

Trey Lance throws an incompletion to Danny Gray on the right sideline. The ball was arguably Lance's best of the day on a bucket pass over a defender to the right sideline into the hands of Gray, who appeared to not get two feet inbounds. Unsure whether it was a catch or not, but the defense's reaction made it seem as if two feet didn't get down in bounds.

Sam Darnold (QB1)

Sam Darnold throws an incompletion on a deep pass to Danny Gray. Gray had beaten Ambry Thomas by two steps on a go-route and seemed poised for a touchdown, but Darnold's ball had a little too much air underneath it and was a little inside, allowing Talanoa Hufanga to make a cross-field pass-breakup and nearly acquire an interception. Not a bad ball by Darnold, but certainly could've made a better throw.

Trey Lance (QB2)

Trey Lance flushes out of the pocket with pressure coming and rushes up the right sideline past the defense for 10-15 yards and a first down.
Trey Lance completes an out-route to Cameron Latu with tight coverage. Lance had good pocket awareness, went through all his progressions, and settled on his final read in Latu before firing a strong pass to the chest-and-head area, which was away from the defender charging with a lower base. Latu made a strong catch with contact present.

Overall Grade

Lance was the better quarterback on Wednesday, gaining steam during the last 11-on-11 session and finishing either 4/6 or 5/6 in those reps, with the disparity coming on the Danny Gray play.

While the margin wasn't necessarily other-wordly, given that there weren't many throws made between either option on Day 1, Lance did seem more comfortable, and showed off his new mechanics during individual and team drills.

I grade Lance's performance a B for the day, while giving Darnold a C+, although it was a tough day to truly evaluate quarterbacks with the install primarily focusing on shorter throws and the sheer lack of a larger sample size.

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