Joe Montana questions the readiness of Trey Lance

Posted By on February 11, 2022

Joe Montana finds himself in a bit of hot water with a portion of San Francisco fans after comments he made during an interview on radio row at the Super Bowl on Thursday.

The 49ers legend sat down with Kevin Clark of The Ringer. During the interview Montana was asked about how he views the situation with Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance.

“I think they keep Jimmy until you find somebody else,” Montana said. “I don’t think Trey’s ready to play yet, as myself and after talking to some of the players. I think it’s one of those things that if you can keep Jimmy healthy, he plays well enough to get you here.”

Montana’s comments don’t match the direction the 49ers are taking. All indications point to Jimmy Garoppolo playing for another team in 2022 and the keys to San Francisco’s offense being handed to Lance.

During his end of year press conference Kyle Shanahan was asked what gives him confidence that Trey Lance is ready to take over as the starting quarterback.

“Just being around him all year. I thought he had the ability we saw in college. We knew it was at a different level and we knew we were very limited on the amount he got to play, especially missing the last year of COVID,” said Shanahan. “So, you have to go off what you see on tape and believing in the person, and we did. Having him here for a whole year, I feel stronger about that. He’s got the ability to do it. He’s got the mind to do it. And I think he’s the type of person who can handle all the stuff that goes with it.”

It’s hard to argue with Shanahan’s view of the quarterback. Making only his second start during a must win game in week 17 of the regular season against the Houston Texans, Lance completed nearly 70% of his passes for 249 yards, rushed for another 31 and had two touchdown completions with only one interception in a 23-7 victory.

Lance sat down Friday for an interview with Rich Eisen and was asked if he is expecting to be the starting quarterback for the 49ers this fall.

“Yes, that’s absolutely my goal,” responded Lance. “I’m going to be as ready as I possibly can in OTA’s, training camp and absolutely week 1.”

While Lance will be spending time in Southern California this offseason to focus on improving his throwing motion, he also expects to spend some time with Kyle Shanahan to help strengthen their relationship.

“For me, watching tape with Kyle I think is a big thing,” Lance told Eisen. “Whether it’s tape from my games, tape from Jimmy’s games. Any of the games this year, understanding how he see’s the game and making sure that we’re on the same page throughout the year.”

Lance will go into year two in a situation not all that different from that of Joe Burrow. While Lance made only two starts his rookie year compared to 10 for Burrow, Cincinnati’s success in 2021 could serve as a precursor to what’s to come for the 49ers in 2022.

Does Lance feel he could lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl next season?

“That’s the goal, absolutely,” responded Lance. “The goal, the plan, the expectation, absolutely but a whole lot of work needs to be done before then. I understand that. Definitely excited for this opportunity with this group of guys. We have a real special group.”

This article has 15 Comments

  1. I get the impression that Joe Montana doesn’t watch football anymore. He’s wrapped up in his business ventures.

  4. Joe Montana is no different than anybody else…he has an opinion…he’s as entitled to voice that opinion, just as much as the Lance supporters are in voicing theirs….

  5. I can’t see how anything Joe Montana said is even remotely controversial. Trey Lance is not ready. Jimmy Garoppolo is unquestionably a better QB than Trey Lance right now. The major difference is Lance doesn’t anticipate throws like Jimmy does at this point in his career. To me the question isn’t about whether Lance is ready or not ready. The question is: are the 49ers ready to go through the growing pains all young QBs go through in order to go from “not ready” to “great QB.” The answer is 100% rooted in whether, after a year of monitoring Trey Lance in practice, Kyle Shanahan believes Trey Lance will develop into a better QB than Jimmy G. From an armchair QB perspective, I can see Lance is a better athlete than Jimmy G but I don’t know if he’ll develop into a better QB. Great QBs are great because of whats between their ears more than anything else.

    1. Are you saying that Trey is not smart enough to be a great quarterback? If Trey is not better than Jimmy the Niners are in trouble. Yes, Jimmy’s Niners won but Jimmy is not great are good and yes he was better than the other quarterbacks that played behind him but he was by far the worse quarterback in the West. Niners would not only be in the Super Bowl but would win it all with a better quarterback. If Trey is not better he is a wasted pick. However, Trey is better in my opinion for the offense the Niners run. His ability to throw deep balls and extend plays will help him far exceed Jimmy’s quick release and want ever value the team found in Jimmy.

      1. What the heck? How in the world could you construe anything I said as “Trey is not smart enough to be a great QB.” That’s a crazy interpretation of my post.

  6. I agree with what Felix said above. The answer to the question about if Lance will be ready is clearly: Maybe. Nothing controversial about it at all.

  8. Have to take anything from former players cum NFL insiders with a grain of salt.

    Yes, Lance is probably not super ready to pilot a team that was so close to making the Super Bowl, but the only way he is going to get there is with live bullets.

    Whats the alternative? Keep him on the bench forever?

  9. Lance is the guy. We fell into a W/L deficit this year and might very well next. He’ll get the starter’s reps, though, and, barring injuries, I wouldn’t lay odds against our being there at the end.

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