3 explanation why Trey Lance is the San Francisco 49ers best choice at QB

The San Francisco 49ers suffered a brutal late game loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 3. In that game, Jimmy Garoppolo led the 49ers to the top quarter, just over 30 seconds behind in game four.

Unfortunately for fans on the bay, the 49ers offense left too much time on the clock. Their defenses also blew it up when, after time ran out, Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay to the final field goal to win the game.

San Francisco wouldn’t even have been able to lose their first game of the season if their offense, led by Garoppolo, didn’t fight for a second game in a row in the first half.

Until their running back in the fourth row, the 49ers saw Green Bay take a 17-0 lead in the first half. Rodgers far surpassed its smaller counterpart. It was only when San Francisco brought rookie No. 3 with Trey Lance to the touchdown towards the end of the second quarter that things apparently changed. He saw action for another game in the second half. That’s it.

That is the crux of the problem for the San Francisco 49ers, who go into their important week 4 game against league rivals Seattle Seahawks. Garoppolo remains extremely restricted in the passing game. And without a hasty elite-level attack that marked the Kyle Shanahan era in Northern California, the quarterback’s weaknesses have risen to alarming levels.

Now is the time for San Francisco’s Brass to finally admit that Lance is their best option for the rest of the season. Here’s why.

Related: San Francisco 49ers Schedule and Forecasts

The San Francisco 49ers aren’t Super Bowl contenders

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Even though the season started on a 2-0 record, holes in that squad became pretty obvious. The unlucky Detroit Lions returned from a 41-13 deficit in the second half against San Francisco in Week 1, but lost 41:33.

This was a harbinger for the future. What must be viewed as a foolish mistake, the brass section of the 49ers largely avoided the cornerback position in the offseason. Instead, General Manager John Lynch and Co. relied on an injury-stricken Jason Verrett to take on the No. 1 role. This after Verrett had played a total of 18 games in the last five seasons due to injury.

The former Pro Bowler went down like clockwork with a cruciate ligament rupture late in the season opener win against the Lions. San Francisco has since struggled to defend the pass and relies on seasoned journeymen after seasoned journeymen. That included getting Josh Norman, Dre Kirkpatrick and Buster Skrine off the streets.

Related: Where do the San Francisco 49ers rank on our NFL defense rankings?

What is the moral of the story here when it relates to Trey Lance starting over Garoppolo? As things stand, San Francisco passport defense will be one of the most important things to keep this team from competing in This 2021.

2021 is a year of transition for Trey Lance and the San Francisco 49ers

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That brings me to one of my biggest points. If the 49ers aren’t true Super Bowl contenders, the 2021 season must be viewed as a transition period for this franchise. Perhaps it was a foolish belief that this team was as good as the 2019 iteration that shockingly made it to the Super Bowl. It is also possible that a lack of activity on the free agent front in cornerback and other most pressing positions was a team failure.

Whatever the reason, it’s clear that the best San Francisco can hope for this season is a wildcard course. If it does, what is the real reason for waiting for Trey Lance to launch? Other rookie quarterbacks like Justin Fields, Mac Jones, Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson have had big problems this season.

Does that mean Lance will follow suit? I am not really sure. He has a much better supporting cast than any other rookie picks for the first round. He has a much better offensive game caller. Choosing to keep Lance sitting because other quarterbacks struggled is like a philosophical fallacy. Not every situation is the same. It’s a red herring.

What does Jimmy Garoppolo offer the San Francisco 49ers that Trey Lance doesn’t?

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Limited. This is the best way to describe the San Francisco offensive in the first three games of the season. And in reality a lot of it is on Garoppolo.

We can focus on the quarterback career record of 26-9 as a starter. We can focus on the fact that he has scored five touchdowns against an interception this season. These statistics are a fact. They are also misleading.

Garoppolo is a quarterback who offers absolutely nothing on the spot. When San Francisco’s frantic attack doesn’t work, the defense hones the passing game. His inability to get the ball to the receivers on the field and off the hashes creates huge problems, especially in Shanahan’s plan.

At least Trey Lance San Francisco offers this dual threat capability. He’ll make the defense think. He has a cannon for his arm and is ready to throw the ball across the field.

Counterbalancing this argument would be the inevitable mistakes Lance will make below the middle. But is that different from Garoppolo losing a fumble in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against Green Bay? I do not think so.

In the end, the San Francisco 49ers may have overrated their squad for the 2021 season. You might have overrated Garoppolo himself.

Now, with Week 4 against the last-placed Seahawks, it’s time for San Francisco to face reality. As a non-contender, Trey Lance is the best option for the future.