Bill Walsh said, ‘the quarterback is the limit of my offense.’
On Thursday, the Los Angeles Rams signed former Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner. The move created quite a stir.
The Rams threw caution to the wind last season, and it paid off with a Super Bowl victory. They appear to be doing it again this season. In addition to the signing of Wagner, the Rams have also added former Bears wide receiver, Allen Robinson.
Meanwhile, the 49ers have had a quiet offseason so far, the addition of Charvarius Ward being their only big-ticket signing.
These moves show the different philosophies around building a roster for each organization.
Or do they?
Last offseason, the Rams big offseason move was to acquire quarterback Matthew Stafford in a trade with Detroit. They also added Von Miller and Odell Beckham, but those moves didn’t occur until the season was well underway. By the time Miller and Beckham played their first snaps for Los Angeles, the Rams were already 7-2 and had defeated Tampa Bay.
While the additions of Miller and Beckham certainly didn’t hurt, the addition of Stafford is what put them over the top. He extended the limit of Sean McVay’s offense. Oh, and Eric Weddle had something to do with it too.
In the Rams NFC Championship Game win over San Francisco, Stafford made big throw after big throw.
On the other side, Jimmy Garoppolo did the same for Kyle Shanahan’s offense. The veteran missed several open receivers throughout the game.
San Francisco made a big move at the quarterback position during the 2021 offseason like the Rams. Instead of going after an expensive veteran, the 49ers used three first-round picks and a third-round selection to bring in Trey Lance.
The rookie quarterback played only sparingly but showed marked improvement while leading the 49ers to a victory over Houston in week 17.
Surrounding Lance will be several talented offensive weapons.
Deebo Samuel is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, and George Kittle remains near the top of the league among tight ends. Brandon Aiyuk and Lance connected on several deep throws during training camp last season. Elijah Mitchell showed he could power the run game, averaging 4.7 yards per attempt as a rookie. Don’t forget about Kyle Juszczyk. The do-everything fullback adds much-needed versatility with his ability to block or make big catches down the field.
On defense, the 49ers return Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Jimmie Ward, and nearly all the other starters who held opponents to the ninth fewest points in 2021.
When the quarterback position has been right, San Francisco has won a lot of games under Kyle Shanahan. In 2019 they reached the Super Bowl, and this last season the 49ers took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game.
If Trey Lance is the player many expect, nobody will be talking about the moves San Francisco didn’t make when the season wraps up. He’ll extend the limit of the 49ers offense far beyond anything they had with Jimmy Garoppolo.
I hate to keep on bringing this up..but, until the team addresses their o line, my enthusiasm for ‘the Lance era’ will be minimal…
Forge the first comment…it’s pointless…except for the o line….it takes more than one guy..Kyle Shanahan isn’t Bill Walsh..Lance isn’t Montana, Young or Garcia..and the line isn’t Randy Cross, Keith Fahnhorst, John Ayers, Forrest Blue and Harris Barton…the running game, and supporting cast are in place..for now..without a line that dominates, especially late in the game, young Mr Lance could have tough sledding…don’t expect a SB appearance this season…that’s all that counts..wins and losses…a 300 yd passing game, and losing means 0…
Forrest Blue?
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So far in this off-season there have been no stories on Lance’s development. No dobt he has been working with quarterback gurus to improve his approach to the position, and it would be informative to read about how that work is going.
Unfortunately, the off season fundamental type work that Lance is supposed to be doing doesn’t lend itself to frequent status reports. The first reports that will be meaningful will be when he’s applying those fundamental against NFL defensive schemes and speed. Be patient “little cricket”.
Agree with Jack that TL is the key to any success in 2022. No SB this year and I fear TL will not be outstanding. He might be serviceable. We way overpaid for drafting him.
Disappointing offseason for the Niners so far.
I’m not expecting a championship this year, but I do hope to enjoy the 2022 season. I’ve had a similar “hope” every year since 1946. I’ve enjoyed a lot of great football during that time. Try it.
I couldn’t have said it better myself HT. My hope for this season is they stay in playoff contention till the end. If they do have a SB or just a playoff season ,I believe it will be because of the D not Lance.
Truly.
htwaits
Q: “Are you happy at Left Guard and Right Tackle?”
A: NOPE! But as I stated, IMO, those 3 are the 9ers top needs for the 2022 draft.
With the additional 6 draft picks, IMO, the 9ers need to draft an EDGE, a WR, an OT, another CB, another RB and another OG.
I believe OL coach, Forester, has proved his competence and the pretenders and contenders will be sorted out after OTA’s.
IMO, the biggest change the 9ers needed to make was hiring a new ST coach! Signing players that make a competent ST squad and improve field position, should result in at least 2 additional wins the 9ers lost last year.
Your last post asked “Are the offensive line concerns warranted”. I answered yes. And now I would argue that we are dependent on Lance because this is Kyle’s latest “work around” for not devoting enough capital to a competent offensive line. Interesting that the principle focus of our defense is pressuring the quarterback but the least of their attention goes to our offensive line. Oh right – Kyle is an offensive genius. Well, now it looks like we’ll see if Lance is the missing part of his “work around” or not.
Ughh I can’t with the offensive line comments. If you have been watching this team the last 6 years you understand how and why the offensive line was built the way it is.
I understand. We are a run first team. But when we need to pass we can’t And twice during Kyle’s time we have needed to pass in the most important game of the year and we failed. And, of course that’s all Jimmy G’s fault and, like the title to this thread, TL has to fix that. I won’t comment on Kyle’s success (or lack thereof) in all but 2 years of his tenure. Your view is we stick with the narrative. Well, we’ll see.
I mean you have a point and I think that’s where Lance comes in. You hope when those situations come up, where we need to pass, where the run game has taken as far as it can, that Trey Lance extends plays with his legs, off schedule pass, or creating a penalty extending drive.
Whine county / Or anyone that cares to share their opinion.
Question: Do you believe Lance will open up KS’s offense, opposed to JG, with:
A) The 9er WR’s ability to run KS’s full route tree with Lance as the QB, opposed to JG’s limitations?
B) The 9er offense, with a mobile QB, that forces the defending D to account for his ability to run the ball and complete off schedule passes?
* IMO, the one advantage JG has over Lance, is his ability to get rid of the ball in less than 2,5 seconds.
That’s my one concern with the new players on the O-Line and their ability to develop the continuity that gives Lance ~3 seconds to deliver the ball to his receivers.
* Hopefully, Forester and the O-Line will get that worked out in pre season.
Meh, I’m not a big Matt Stafford guy. Your entire article would be vastly different if Jacquiski Tartt did not drop that easy interception. Matthew Stafford is a decent QB, certainly much better than Jared Goff. Stafford was tied for the league lead in Ints and he wasn’t even in the top 10 in the NFL in Comp%. In my opinion Kupp, Miller, and Weddle all deserve more credit for their playoff wins than Matthew Stafford.
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