What to expect from the 49ers’ Trey Lance against the Chiefs in Saturday’s opener
Trey Lance on Aug. 4, during his seventh NFL practice, took four snaps in his first red zone drill of training camp. The rookie quarterback looked outstanding.
He threw a touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Matthews; held the defensive end on a zone-read run for Wayne Gallman, who scampered for a score; ran his own zone read in for a touchdown; and he threw a perfect fade to receiver Nsimba Webster in the right side of the end zone for his fourth straight score.
The sequence was one of a handful of highlights for Lance as he went through the earliest stages of his first NFL training camp. That session was the first of two in which he threw just two incompletions in 11-on-11 drills over two days, combined, leading to the hype train leaving the station for the talented No. 3 overall pick.
But things have slowed for Lance since then. If those early sessions were his peak, he might have hit a valley this week, particularly when he returned to the red zone for a game-like simulation Tuesday.
Roughly 10 seconds remained on the game clock and it was fourth down deep inside the red zone. Lance had to throw it into the end zone for the score. Instead, he opted for a check down, hitting little-used tight end Charlie Woerner in the right flat. Woerner was stopped by Marcell Harris well short of the goal line and didn’t have a chance to score.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan kicked Lance and the second-string offense off the field for failing in the situational drill.
“Not great,” Shanahan said afterwards. “When we threw it short, not into the end zone, that wasn’t very good awareness because you’ve got to go to the end zone or out of bounds depending on what the situation is.”
The situation spoke to the top concern for Lance coming into the NFL.
Big-time experience, pressure for Lance
He lacks game experience, having started just one full season in college, in 2019. He played just one game with North Dakota State in 2020. Lance’s team dominated throughout most of 2019, leaving Lance without many late-game opportunities to play situational football like the 49ers have practiced.
“Obviously it didn’t go as well as I would’ve liked,” Lance said. “And it’s kind of like a no-brainer situation. Like everyone knew that I didn’t make the right decision with the ball. So yeah, just continuing to learn as much as I can from those situations. And I’m thankful that we’ll get to do that drill again.”
Which is why Saturday’s preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs will be telling. It will be Lance’s first time playing situational football in a game setting in his pro career. Among the challenges will be relaying play calls with a radio head set in his helmet for the first time, which isn’t allowed in college.
Shanahan on Thursday said the initial plan was to give Jimmy Garoppolo one series before allowing Lance to play the rest of the first half.
“Excited to go out and compete with this locker room of guys. At the same time, everything’s new,” Lance said. “So just being able to get used to everything, everything from the hotel the night before the game to pregame warmup. Everything’s going to be new, but at the same time football is football.”
Lance’s recent practices have also been marked by poor play from the second-team offensive line. He was sacked, unofficially, five times during team drills Wednesday going against the second-team defense.
The group has recently consisted of Tom Compton at right tackle, rookie Aaron Banks at right guard, Jake Brendel at center, Colton McKivitz at left guard and fifth-round pick Jaylon Moore at left tackle.
Shanahan would clearly prefer to get his quarterback to play from a clean pocket. But he also knows that’s unlikely to happen in the NFL, and likes that Lance is being put under duress during practice.
“You try make it as real of football as there is,” Shanahan said Thursday. “I don’t want him sitting there playing like it’s 7-on-7 all day. That’s why I don’t like 7-on-7 (without linemen). I’m telling him to get rid of the ball but there’s no pass rush. And if no one’s open, I want him to hold on to it until the pass rush gets there.”
Lance’s legs are the difference
Lance has used his legs frequently throughout practice, both in designed runs and scrambles, where his athletic skill set clearly differentiates himself from Garoppolo.
“You just want to play real,” said Shanahan. “If a guy’s about to hit him, you don’t want him to sit there and take hitches because they’re not going to hit him and then just throw it late and have a big play. That was a sack if that happens. I hope he knows to get rid of it or I hope he scrambles. If we block well, I hope he makes the play that’s presented to him. So it’s just trying to get him doing reps of really doing everything. When it gets to the game, it’s a lot more real. We’ll see if they tackle him, we’ll see if he scrambles, we’ll see if he hangs in there.”
Shanahan on Thursday said he expects Lance to get roughly 30 snaps, which include playing into the second half if he doesn’t get enough reps during the first two quarters.
He also said defensive ends Nick Bosa and Dee Ford won’t play while they come back from their significant knee and back injuries, respectively, from last season. Receiver Jalen Hurd will also be held out of the game after having his most productive practice of training camp Thursday.
Hurd was targeted on back-to-back plays by Lance during a move-the-ball period and brought in catches over the middle of the field.
The sequence ended with Lance finding tight end Ross Dwelley for a 19-yard touchdown with less than 10 seconds on the clock, showing improvement from that session on Tuesday this week when he failed in a similar scenario.
Garoppolo, meanwhile, orchestrated a nine-play scoring drive with the starters that resulted in a 2-yard Brandon Aiyuk touchdown pass to the right flat. Garoppolo is expected to get one series on Saturday, Shanahan said, which comes just over four weeks before the season opener in Detroit.
Chiefs at 49ers
When: 5:30 p.m Saturday
Where: Levi’s Stadium
