Preseason Week 1 GDT - Trey Lance Debut

[49erurtaza]

Tbh if we are starting Brunskill at RG we should sign Ben Garland back, to back up Mack. 

[N4L]

Finally had a chance to give some thoughts:

- Jimmy looked sharp. Everything was crisp. Footwork was on point. He did a great job at throwing within the timing of the offense. One drive is one drive, but it was encouraging to see him look locked in and throwing darts. His feet were tied into his arm - which is where he had issues in previous seasons, there were times he wouldnt set his feet or use his hips at all and it made him sporadic. I saw none of that and hopefully we dont see it all season. You can usually tell in the first drive how JG is feeling on that day. I think its super important for him to get off on the right foot this season. 

- Its really hard to evaluate how Trey played. I think thats why we are seeing conflicting breakdowns from analysts. Even how I am going to describe it sounds contradictory. Trey looks like he processes things very fast and I also think the game is still moving very fast for him. He was sharp but also a bit sporadic. He wasnt panicked, but also may have rushed things a bit towards the end. His facial expressions make him seem to stoic but we will see how he deals with things as time goes on. He really looks like he can be something very special in due time. I really liked what I saw from him because I know this game was just a stepping stone and a lot of his positive attributes shined through the negatives

- mitchwish had a rough night. He was actually pretty bad. Not sure what got into him but he did not look comfortable. The first punt looked good in the air but it bounced on the 5 and then bounced with a ton of speed into the endzone. He only had one other one the whole night that flew well in the air. The rest of them were ducks or didnt have enough hangtime. The chiefs punter had an incredible game. I was blown away by that kid. Huge leg and seemed pinpoint accurate and was consistent with it. Mitch wish has never been consistent partly because he tries to do all of these different styles of kicks with different types of spin, but whatever he was trying to do was not working and it would be nice to see him be able to just boom it with more traditional hangtime/distance when he doesnt have a good feel for his tricky style kicks. Definitely something I will be keeping an eye on

- Lenior is feisty. He really gets after it. I love it when rookies bring energy/look like they belong from day one. He needs to be careful though, he was getting a bit handsy and there was a few plays they could have easily thrown flags. He did a great job at getting his head around and not just playing the man, which is honestly why he was able to avoid the flags for the most part, but I think they were pretty lenient with him overall. This was (partly) how richard sherman made his money though, so knowing when you can grab a little jersey, when you cant, and when to turn your head is absolutely an art form. I feel like a lot of people would view his night differently if they would have thrown more flags on him though, so lets not get carried away after one game just yet. He still has a long way to go. I expect Ambry thomas to be the better player in the long run

- Woener seems like he has improved tremendously. No preseason last year so we didnt get to see him get extended action. He was pretty bad early on last season but he seems like he is finally starting to get the handle on the pro game. He is in the kittle mold in the sense he was a blocking TE in college who didnt get a chance to showcase his receiving skills, but who very clearly has some natural ability in that department. He has some physical traits that you like so I am excited to see him continue to improve. 

- Hufanga is such an instinctive football player. He was a bit smaller than I expected and looked very quick. Read and react. The guy wasnt overthinking things. Seemed like a pretty sure tackler with good form. Definitely a savvy football player. He is a great fit for this defense given the other talent we have on it. I think people need to pump the breaks on him though. Lets not crown him just yet. 

- Travis Benjamin doesnt look rosterable. We so badly need a PR and its not like we have a deep WR room, but I really didnt see him do anything to make me think he doing more than just take up space. Its not like he is some udfa or something. That punt where he caught it and then didnt run was a cuttable offense to me. Its like he was looking for a crease to hit a homerun, when I just want someone to hit some singles with the occasional double mixed in

- special teams were brutal overall. Really need to get that sorted out. There is still time, but it would be a shame if a defense like this gets paired with crummy STs (negating some of the advantage we get from having a top 5 D). 

[rudyZ]

On 8/19/2021 at 3:00 AM, N4L said:

He wasnt panicked, but also may have rushed things a bit towards the end. His facial expressions make him seem to stoic

Actually, I thought his demeanor wasn't his best, during the game. Maybe it's something I shouldn't judge, but I look at how QBs are on the sidelines after a series, and Trey looked down on himself. I loved his reaction on the field after Aiyuk dropped his first pass, he looked strong and confident, gave him the thumbs up as to say "No worry", and that was terrific. Trey will be a strong leader, and I know he will take more blame than he deserves rather than let his teammates get the blame. No worries about that. But I do think he seemed overwhelmed at times. When I say I look at the demeanor on the sidelines, I'm always reminded of last year's games against the Pats, and how Newton looked like he was about to cry on the sideline. My thought right away was : "Oh, Cam has lost the team. It's over". I like a QB who doesn't seem deflated on the sideline, but looks focused and driven, as if to say "You're not going to stop me next time". Trey didn't have that last week. Then again, it was his first game, and he'll grow more confident and more focused, and he'll watch Jimmy G and other players on the team, even defensive players, and how they act on and off the field, and I have zero doubt he's going to be a leader and a stud. But I don't think he's quite there yet.

[JIllg]

9 minutes ago, rudyZ said:

Actually, I thought his demeanor wasn't his best, during the game. Maybe it's something I shouldn't judge, but I look at how QBs are on the sidelines after a series, and Trey looked down on himself. I loved his reaction on the field after Aiyuk dropped his first pass, he looked strong and confident, gave him the thumbs up as to say "No worry", and that was terrific. Trey will be a strong leader, and I know he will take more blame than he deserves rather than let his teammates get the blame. No worries about that. But I do think he seemed overwhelmed at times. When I say I look at the demeanor on the sidelines, I'm always reminded of last year's games against the Pats, and how Newton looked like he was about to cry on the sideline. My thought right away was : "Oh, Cam has lost the team. It's over". I like a QB who doesn't seem deflated on the sideline, but looks focused and driven, as if to say "You're not going to stop me next time". Trey didn't have that last week. Then again, it was his first game, and he'll grow more confident and more focused, and he'll watch Jimmy G and other players on the team, even defensive players, and how they act on and off the field, and I have zero doubt he's going to be a leader and a stud. But I don't think he's quite there yet.

Yeah, I thought he looked really good over the first three or four drives that way, weathering some brutal drops and a terrible red zone sack where Brunskill got dump trucked. But the waves of bad things that happened with the less good offensive group definitely got into his head and affected both his confidence and his performance. He isn't used to that much bad on a football field.