San Francisco 49ers waiting to unveil starting quarterback for Week 1
The San Francisco 49ers are playing coy with who is going to start at quarterback in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions.
Less than two weeks away, and Kyle Shanahan isn’t giving up the goods.
The San Francisco 49ers head coach has a decision to make, after the team sent a boatload of draft capital to the Miami Dolphins for the right to the No. 3 overall pick before selecting quarterback Trey Lance. After Lance showed well in preseason games, there’s a real question to whether Lance or veteran Jimmy Garoppolo will get the starting job come Week 1 against the Detroit Lions.
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On Wednesday, Shanahan spoke to the local media and wouldn’t divulge who the starter is, despite assuredly knowing how the team will move forward.
However, with Lance suffering a fracture in his finger last week, one wonders if the choice was made for Shanahan. The coach talked about the situation, but didn’t give up much. Per NFL.com:
“I mean, anytime you’ve got a small chip, it could linger. I hope it doesn’t, I’m hoping he’s back there next Monday. He seems positive about it. But we gotta be smart with it, too. Sometimes when it’s a real little thing like that, it’s hard to believe it’s still hurt. But we gotta make sure he doesn’t go back out there and have a setback right away, too.”
For the Niners, getting this call correct is more pressing than for others with quarterback competitions this summer. San Francisco is a Super Bowl contender and is playing in the league’s toughest division, with the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams both playoff teams a year ago, while the Arizona Cardinals went 8-8.
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Should the 49ers decide to give Lance the gig, he does have the benefit of beginning against the Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, arguably the two worst teams in the NFC. It’ll be a nice springboard into what will be one of the league’s harder slates considering the divisional matchups.
Regardless of who starts, Lance will eventually wrestle the job away from Garoppolo, who is likely in his final year with the Niners. The only question is whether that happens soon or if the former Eastern Illinois star, who led San Francisco to the Super Bowl less than two years ago, holds him off and takes one more run at a title.
