San Francisco names Sam Darnold backup, exploring trade market for Trey Lance

[49ersfan]

The plan WAS going smoothly in 2021. Jimmy G started most of the year but Lance had a couple of starts and showed some potential. Lance was then given the job in 2022 and it all went bad from there. He struggled a lot & regressed but even then, I think Shanny was willing to go through some growing pains. But then Lance got injured after 5 quarters of football & both Jimmy G/Purdy operated the offense smoothly in Lance's absence. 

2022 was really the pivotal year and that's where it went all wrong with his regression & injury. He NEEDED to at least show potential & stay healthy in 2022 and he didn't

 

 

[Soko]

If he gets cut, he should sign a two-year deal behind someone who’s probably out the door next year. Gives him a chance to learn the playbook and hopefully get on the field in 2024. Joining a team like the Bucs and waiting for Baker to suck wind would burn him IMO. Sure he’d get on the field sooner - behind a crappy line and in a new offensive system that he didn’t have much time to get acclimated to. And that’s if Trask doesn’t get the next bite at the apple. Same deal if he thinks he’ll go to Arizona.

Minnesota, LV, maybe even NY if he doesn’t mind waiting two years. LA if Stafford might actually retire. Green Bay or Washington, if he thinks those guys flame out?

Not sure he’s got it in him to succeed regardless, tbh.

[ronjon1990]

19 hours ago, LeotheLion said:

Was the report that he initially liked Mac just not true at all then? 

Lance at this point is probably the worst draft pick in NFL history. It's remarkable that they can whiff that much and it basically not even mattering to their present too much. 

From the team perspective, absolutely. 

D2 QB prospect with 1 season under his belt on a D2 juggernaut that played 1 game in a year between starting and getting drafted, with wonky mechanics and seen almost exclusively as an "upside project", and you give up THAT MUCH for him? What could possibly go wrong? 

Kyle is a good coach, but he cannot evaluate QBs un the draft to save his life. Major influence behind drafting RG3 in Washington (and all they gave up for him) and now Lance, getting lucky to have Cousins and Purdy fall into his lap? The 9ers are better off never letting him draft a QB again. 

Case study in the cautionary tale of taking the "throw everything at upside for a QB and ignore your eyes and sensibilities" approach. Epic fail and, man, if Kyle wasn't such a solid X's and O's guy with a good record and still high expectations....he would've been canned already in shame. 

[stl4life07]

12 hours ago, Forge said:

3 NFC championships in 4 years isn't a bad look though. They may ultimately pay the price for this miss because it's hard to miss that big and not get it at some point, but they aren't going to feel it for a couple of years when vets start leaving. Barring another crazy injury year (which is possible - the Bosa contract has me concerned) they'll probably make the playoffs again, probably win a playoff game again before losing to Dallas or Philly. Missing on this trade and pick is not more important than what he's doing on the field. 

And that's before considering the contract situation of shanny (no offset language ) which also conveniently runs only through 2025. And Jed loves him. 

On the surface its not a bad look until you realize they need that QB to get them over the hump and they have failed miserably trying to find it. Not just failed miserably but its still in question. There is a path the Niners could fall apart this season and either barely make the playoffs or miss it completely. All hopes are placed on Purdy and imo thats scary. The idea was to have this talented potential stud QB in Lance come in and take the Niners offense to another level to where they would be the best team in the NFL. I even thought that. Purdy could be good but what is his real ceiling? How do we know last season wasnt just him catching everyone off guard and now with time the league will expose why Purdy was the last pick of the draft and he regress? Yes the Niners offense and system wont make Purdy look unplayable but when he goes up against the elite of the elite in those big games I think we will be back at square one saying that the Niners need to get themselves that QB that they still dont have. 

As for the Bosa contract yes thats a big thing but that will get taken care of. The biggest concern still is the QB position for the Niners. You would think that a guy like Kyle would have no issues getting that position straight for the next decade plus. Instead Kyle seems to have no idea and right now the hopes is pending on Purdy. But its going to be an interesting season and then offseason for the Niners bc they have to fix this disaster of the situation with Lance. 

[Fresh Prince]

43 minutes ago, ronjon1990 said:

From the team perspective, absolutely. 

D2 QB prospect with 1 season under his belt on a D2 juggernaut that played 1 game in a year between starting and getting drafted, with wonky mechanics and seen almost exclusively as an "upside project", and you give up THAT MUCH for him? What could possibly go wrong? 

Kyle is a good coach, but he cannot evaluate QBs un the draft to save his life. Major influence behind drafting RG3 in Washington (and all they gave up for him) and now Lance, getting lucky to have Cousins and Purdy fall into his lap? The 9ers are better off never letting him draft a QB again. 

Case study in the cautionary tale of taking the "throw everything at upside for a QB and ignore your eyes and sensibilities" approach. Epic fail and, man, if Kyle wasn't such a solid X's and O's guy with a good record and still high expectations....he would've been canned already in shame. 

RG3 was the right call they just messed him up by playing him when injured.

[Forge]

46 minutes ago, ronjon1990 said:

Kyle is a good coach, but he cannot evaluate QBs un the draft to save his life. Major influence behind drafting RG3 in Washington (and all they gave up for him) and now Lance, getting lucky to have Cousins and Purdy fall into his lap? The 9ers are better off never letting him draft a QB again. 

 

The shanahans pretty famously didn't want RG3. Ultimately its probably a he said / she said thing, but you can go back as early as 2013 with Mike Silver talking about how Snyder basically forced RG3 on them. Griffin himself has talked about how Mike never wanted him there. 

[Forge]

20 minutes ago, stl4life07 said:

On the surface its not a bad look until you realize they need that QB to get them over the hump and they have failed miserably trying to find it. Not just failed miserably but its still in question. There is a path the Niners could fall apart this season and either barely make the playoffs or miss it completely. All hopes are placed on Purdy and imo thats scary. The idea was to have this talented potential stud QB in Lance come in and take the Niners offense to another level to where they would be the best team in the NFL. I even thought that. Purdy could be good but what is his real ceiling? How do we know last season wasnt just him catching everyone off guard and now with time the league will expose why Purdy was the last pick of the draft and he regress? Yes the Niners offense and system wont make Purdy look unplayable but when he goes up against the elite of the elite in those big games I think we will be back at square one saying that the Niners need to get themselves that QB that they still dont have. 

As for the Bosa contract yes thats a big thing but that will get taken care of. The biggest concern still is the QB position for the Niners. You would think that a guy like Kyle would have no issues getting that position straight for the next decade plus. Instead Kyle seems to have no idea and right now the hopes is pending on Purdy. But its going to be an interesting season and then offseason for the Niners bc they have to fix this disaster of the situation with Lance. 

There are only a handful of elite QBs. You're going to fail finding one a lot more than you're going to succeed. If you keep stacking wins, you can keep yourself afloat for a long time as a head coach. 

Andy Reid didn't lose his job in Philly because he never won the super bowl. He lost it because in his last two years he went 8-8 (started 4-8) and then 4-12. 

If the niners fire him, Shanahan has a job the next day as a head coach if he wants it and its very likely that whomever is replacing Kyle isn't nearly as good. 

 

[Forge]

 

[Daniel]

Talk of this being fireable is absolutely ludicrous on its face.

Is it a bad draft pick?  Yes.  Worse with hindsight.

Does anyone care so long as the coach is winning?  Not even a little.

Even the best drafters make bad picks.  It happens.  The 49ers brass seem to be hitting a lot more than they're missing, so saying that a big miss means anything remotely resembling a hot seat for an otherwise extremely successful coach is just stupid.

[big_palooka]

If I have learned anything about the 49ers QB situation, it's that QB3 usually becomes QB1 if you just give it a minute. 

[offbyone]

Jimmy G and Purdy truly bailed out the 49ers and the staff.  On the one hand Shanahan and Lynch picked one of the worst draft busts ever when you consider total value.  On the other they took every other qb who came along and turned them into winners.  

Will be interesting to see what kind of second chances Lance gets.  

[mrscottso]

1 hour ago, Daniel said:

Talk of this being fireable is absolutely ludicrous on its face.

Is it a bad draft pick?  Yes.  Worse with hindsight.

Does anyone care so long as the coach is winning?  Not even a little.

Even the best drafters make bad picks.  It happens.  The 49ers brass seem to be hitting a lot more than they're missing, so saying that a big miss means anything remotely resembling a hot seat for an otherwise extremely successful coach is just stupid.

This! 

[JaguarCrazy2832]

This might be the worst trade I can think of in the NFL maybe ever

[Dome]

1 hour ago, Daniel said:

Talk of this being fireable is absolutely ludicrous on its face.

Is it a bad draft pick?  Yes.  Worse with hindsight.

Does anyone care so long as the coach is winning?  Not even a little.

Even the best drafters make bad picks.  It happens.  The 49ers brass seem to be hitting a lot more than they're missing, so saying that a big miss means anything remotely resembling a hot seat for an otherwise extremely successful coach is just stupid.

The ability to move up like that for Lance was a byproduct of the teams success and stability. It wasn’t a desperation move it was a “let’s see if I can make some magic” move and it didn’t work out. 
Sean Payton constantly whiffed on early picks, like every other year it feels like. Didn’t matter, nobody cared. 

[MKnight82]

2 hours ago, Forge said:

The shanahans pretty famously didn't want RG3. Ultimately its probably a he said / she said thing, but you can go back as early as 2013 with Mike Silver talking about how Snyder basically forced RG3 on them. Griffin himself has talked about how Mike never wanted him there. 

As a Washington fan I can confirm this is accurate.  Mike Shanahan intentionally tanked the 2011 season by starting a combination of John Beck and Rex Grossman at QB for the season with the hopes of landing Andrew Luck. Unfortunately Grossman pulled 5 wins out of his butt and we ended up with the 6th pick instead of the 1st. Shanahan had pitched the idea of tanking for a QB to Snyder, and RG3 had just wont the Heisman and was this dynamic running threat so Snyder pushed hard for him. He was not however anything like what Shanahan had used or wanted at the QB position before. So with really no other option, Shanahan agreed to Snyder's demand for trading up for Griffin. It should be noted that Shanahan also selected Kirk Cousins in the 4th round of that draft, so it further proves he wasn't all in on Griffin.  All of this decision making was between Snyder and Mike Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan at the time was only the Offensive Coordinator and would have had very little input on such things. 

It should be noted that once they got Griffin in the building they identified right away that he was incapable of running a traditional NFL offense, and Kyle came up with a pretty ingenious NFL version of the option that won Griffin ROTY.  

Edited August 24, 2023 by MKnight82