![]() The Niners cannot afford to have a quarterback learning on the job. He needs reps – and the kind of live game reps you cannot get in practice or even in preseason games, which feature backups and vanilla schemes. In two seasons in the league, Lance has just 102 attempts. For context, Patrick Mahomes attempted more passes in a single season at Texas Tech than Lance has in his football life and 648 in the 2022 regular season alone. In college, where he had only one true ( exceptional) season as a starter, he attempted just 318. How limited? Fun fact: Lance has only attempted 519 passes in his entire football career. Lance’s play in short spurts has made grim viewing, but he’s still on 23, is clearly a fantastic athlete and was always going to be on a steep learning curve after very limited experience in college. And Lance The Asset can be used better elsewhere by bolstering an already stacked roster and recovering a smidge of the draft capital the 49ers doled out to move up in the draft. Given all their pieces on offense and the wizard working the sidelines, a pocket distributor with enough verve to create something out of the structure is all they need to be among the favorites in the NFC. There’s no need to overthink this or to get too fancy. They have an offensive savant and interchangeable superstars at the skill positions. ![]() But the Niners are too good and too overwhelming to goof around with experiments. The idea of Lance’s blend of size, speed, wiggle, power and arm talent in a refashioned Shanahan offense was tantalizing. But it is a sad day for any self-anointed scheme dorks. With this core operating on this timeline, it’s the right decision to end the Lance experiment. ![]() Shanahan pivoted again, dealing for running back Christian McCaffrey and refashioning the offense around a brand of ‘positionless’ football. By the time Lance was healthy again, Purdy had usurped him. Lance started the team’s first two games last season, but suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2. Injuries and Lance’s lack of development undercut Shanahan’s shift. Shanahan was gunning for the kind of system the Eagles developed with Jalen Hurts that ended up taking them to the Super Bowl last season. Rather than silo the offense from play to play, the two styles would complement and then amplify one another. And the new ideas would bring a measure of you-go-here-I-go-there football that is, by definition, impossible to defend against. What if, the theory went, they could take all the wonders of a wide-zone-then-boot-styled offense that had wreaked havoc on the league and they could pair it with some option and pistol goodness?Ĭould you fuse those two distinct poles into one, cohesive offense? The traditional Shanahan concepts would be even more lethal. ![]() Shanahan pushing for Lance in a draft that included Mac Jones (a more prototypical Shanahan prospect) was emblematic of a philosophical shift. When they selected Lance, the Niners were drafting an idea as much as a player. But they can still spin the theory of Lance into something, some tangible asset that can help them win in this precious window when their defense is still whole and Purdy is still cheap. ![]() They can’t resurrect the three first-round picks they traded to move up to draft him. The deal to move up for Lance has been done. They’re not holding on for the sake of holding on. Give some credit to Niners general manager John Lynch, Shanahan and company. If you gave Shanahan a couple of cocktails, he’d probably admit there’s a part of him that wants to see what Darnold – another former No 3 overall pick – could do with the starting gig. Darnold was dynamite down the stretch last season with the Carolina Panthers, save for a blip in his last game. Purdy is now back up to full speed and Darnold has supplanted Lance as the team’s No 2. The Niners decided to cling on to Lance as a fallback option for Purdy, who had elbow surgery during the offseason. ![]()
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