Sitting at just 3-5 after Week 8, Kyle Shanahan opened up about how he almost made the permanent switch to Trey Lance but decided against it once Jimmy Garoppolo started to play better.
Steve Young knows the value of a backup quarterback.
Of course, he was one of the most notable backup quarterbacks in NFL history himself for three-plus seasons playing behind Joe Montana on the 49ers in the late 1980s.
With the Jimmy Garoppolo era likely finished in Santa Clara, former No. 3 pick Trey Lance will likely take over as the 49ers’ starter under center.
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After playing just 18 games at North Dakota State, Lance appeared in six contests for San Francisco as a rookie, starting two. In his pair of starts, he completed 31 of 52 pass attempts for 441 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions – an 83.9 passer rating.
On Wednesday, Young joined the Tolbert, Krueger and Brooks show on KNBR to talk through what kind of quarterback the 49ers should target to serve as Lance’s backup.
“I think Trey’s going to be so raw,” Young said. “ … It should be very obvious to all of us that just the pure number of snaps, metering the position … all of it, you figure out in college from playing football games. That it didn’t happen very much [for Lance]. … We’re going to witness his growth.
“And who’s going to do the growth? I’m a big fan of putting someone around you who can push you. So, I’m not looking to not do that. But more than anything, he needs someone older who can tell him ‘this matters’ or ‘this doesn’t matter.’ … Teach him how to study. How to memorize. How to be reflective recall. So that everything that comes out of him is reflective, and he doesn’t have to think about it.”
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Young went on to say the 49ers need Lance to benefit from a veteran quarterback and improve quickly because Kyle Shanahan has a roster that’s ready to make a Super Bowl run next season.
“This is a team, this is a roster, that can win Super Bowls,” he said. “You’ve seen it. We should be the best passing game, the best running game. Those middle nine defenders we have? Top of the league.
“Take a few months off, let’s go do this.”