With Garoppolo injured, 49ers face the big question: Can Trey Lance save the season?
The San Francisco 49ers made the decision last spring to trade up and draft Trey Lance, in part, because of Jimmy Garoppolo’s injury concerns.
Now it’s time to see if Lance can save the team’s season, or at least keep it afloat. Garoppolo went down with another injury during the first half of Sunday’s 28-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
“(I’ve) been in this situation too many times,” a clearly frustrated and emotional Garoppolo said afterward. “It’s getting real old.”
Garoppolo suffered a calf injury at some point point during the first possession, he said, when he led the offense on an eight-play touchdown drive that ended in a touchdown pass to backup tight end Ross Dwelley, an El Dorado Hills native. It was part of an emphatic start for the 49ers after the offense struggled in the first half of their last two games in Philadelphia and against Green Bay.
Garoppolo said he’ll have an MRI on Monday and said the injury “traveled down to the Achilles a little bit.” He said his right calf usually helps him put power behind his throws and that was lacking in the first half before he took himself out.
“I don’t know exactly what happened. Tweaked the calf. It hurt initially. I thought I could keep trying to go, but it kept getting worse and worse,” Garoppolo said.
It didn’t sound like Garoppolo thought he could rebound in time to play the first-place Arizona Cardinals, who thumped the Rams on Sunday and moved into first place in the NFC West, meaning it will likely be Lance’s time to make his first NFL start.
Sunday, Lance started the second half and the offense gained one first down before punting on consecutive possessions. He found a wide-open Deebo Samuel on a coverage bust for a 76-yard score and hit Samuel on a swing pass for another touchdown late.
Otherwise, Lance looked very much like a rookie quarterback getting his first extended action. His numbers were helped out by the final scoring drive in which he connected on 7 of 12 passes.
He completed just just two of his first seven throws and spiked his first attempt to tight end George Kittle’s feet, which appeared to be a sign of nerves. It didn’t sound like Lance was too worried about it after he calmed down.
“He said next time kick it back at me if that’s bad,” Kittle said. “I said, ‘You gotta get it up a little bit. I’m not like Mr. Fantastic with go-go stretch arms.”
Tre Lance’s debut
Lance finished with 157 yards while completing 9-of-18 with the two scores to Samuel and no interceptions. The offense converted just 1 of 8 third-down attempts with Lance under center. He recorded 41 yards on seven carries and scored on a 2-point conversion. Meanwhile, the Seahawks assumed control of the game in the third quarter after a 7-7 tie at halftime. Lance’s late touchdown to Samuel made it a 7-point game with 1:26 left.
Lance, as the backup quarterback, had been getting scant practice time during the week. Sunday’s game plan was designed for Garoppolo, limiting what Shanahan could dial up.
“We have packages in for him, but the game plan wasn’t built for him,” Shanahan said. ”And you do the openers and all the second-half adjustments, but we didn’t really realize that Jimmy wasn’t going to come out until like the last minute. So, we had to kind of make some moves on the fly and do some stuff that he was comfortable with, and I thought we got better as we went.”
In no uncertain terms, Lance might have to save the 49ers’ season, especially if Garoppolo has to miss multiple games. The 49ers have their bye following next week’s trip to Arizona, then host the Colts, travel to Chicago and play Arizona again at home.
San Francisco is coming off back-to-back losses, at home, against the Packers and Seahawks, two teams that figure to be in the playoff mix. And at 2-2, the 49ers are in last place in the NFC West and at risk at falling further behind if Lance can’t help them win at undefeated Arizona.
Garoppolo’s confounding season
The first four games of the year offer a good summation as to why Shanahan wanted to replace Garoppolo in the first place.
Garoppolo’s injury issues have popped up for the third time in four seasons after tearing his ACL in 2018 and a high ankle sprain derailed 2020. He played well for most of Week 1 against Detroit, struggled by missing opening receivers and making plays down field in Philadelphia, was good in spots versus Green Bay — including the go-ahead drive late in the fourth quarter — which came after falling behind 17-0 and making a critical fourth-quarter turnover.
He’s a confounding player. There’s enough good to make the case for Garoppolo being a competent starter and enough bad to say he doesn’t give a team a great chance to win the Super Bowl.
There’s a key caveat in that second point: He’s proven he can help you get to a Super Bowl if he stays healthy, has an elite running game and stout defense. So far, the 49ers have struggled to run the ball and the defense doesn’t control games like it did in 2019.
Add in the latest injury, and suddenly Shanahan will have to act out the scenario he prepared for by having Lance as a Garoppolo alternative.
Is Lance ready to start?
So is Lance ready to function as the starting quarterback for a team hoping to make the playoffs?
“Yeah, he’s got to,” Shanahan said. “ ... Trey is here for a reason. We want to give the time, you want him to be fully ready, but you don’t always have that luxury. I guess we’ll find out in the next couple days.”
Added Kittle: “He’s going to figure it out. I’m not really worried about that. He makes plays all the time in practice and stuff, he looks great. When he was out there, he got his feet underneath him and I thought he started playing at a higher level. We’re going to need that next week.”
If Lance plays well, it will be hard for Garoppolo to get back his starting job. It will also be difficult for the 49ers to trade him coming off an injury.
If Lance doesn’t play well, then the 49ers might be spending another season in quarterback purgatory, which is a place no one wants to be, especially Kyle Shanahan.
This story was originally published October 3, 2021 at 7:12 PM.
