Trey Lance didn’t exactly light the world on fire after taking over the an injured Jimmy Garoppolo on Sunday, but he wasn’t a disaster either.
After a rough first couple series, Lance got into a groove, leaning mostly on his scrambling ability to make plays. The 21-year-old saved his best for last, leading the 49ers on a 13-play, 80 yard drive to close out the game.
Steve Young was once a 49ers quarterback also known for his scrambling ability. He told KNBR that watching Lance reminded him of himself, albeit the version that began his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
“I watched Trey throughout the game, and it reminded me of my Tampa Bay days,” Young told Tolbert, Krueger and Brooks. “He’s got a much better team with him now than I did, but it reminded me of how I played. Everything I had, everything you’ve got full speed, it was not very refined, I was not going to go down without a fight. We’re going to move the ball, we’re going to figure it out.
“That last drive felt very familiar. I know Trey’s got a better team than I did, but wow that was kind of something you can build off of. I left the game wanting to see more. I know it’s going to be crazy and kind of frenetic and we’re going to have some growing pains and stuff, but I ended up wanting to see more.”
Garoppolo is questionable to play this weekend against the Cardinals, and it sounds like we may see Lance get the start. Young believes if Lance shows any flashes, he will keep the job.
“In reference to Jimmy, Jimmy’s so much more polished, and the idea of getting to the Super Bowl right now would feel like Jimmy’s the best bet, because he’s more polished. But you can feel the power and the athleticism and the opportunity with Trey. You can feel it, and how does Kyle want to deal with it? I think that in the end, Kyle screamed at us in the spring, and he’s going to continue to scream at us on some level in the fall, that if I get an opportunity and I think this guy is capable, I’m going to play him.
“You can see why there’s concern. Balls flying around, it’s like five feet over some of the slants and it’s chaotic. Because it’s familiar to me, I don’t know if it’s going to work out like me, when I watched him I was like ‘that’s something they can build off of.’”
