Here is what stood out from the San Francisco 49ers 19th day and final day of training camp.
Word broke moments before practice was about to begin that Lance had lost the competition to be the backup quarterback. He was not at practice and his future in San Francisco is up in the air.
Brock Purdy
Purdy was nearly flawless on Wednesday, completing 12 of 13 attempts.
The best play of the day for Purdy came when he hit George Kittle with a deep throw down the left sideline. Purdy lofted the ball perfectly over the coverage of JiAyir Brown to the tight end.
Purdy worked two move the ball periods, hitting seven of eight attempts and getting the offense into scoring position. The one incompletion came on a throw to Jauan Jennings who was running a deep slant which drew a penalty on defensive back Charvarius Ward.
Sam Darnold
Darnold’s performance left a lot to be desired as he finished just 4-9.
Following a short completion on his first throw to Jauan Jennigs, Darnold’s attempt over the middle was knocked down at the line of scrimmage by Spencer Waege. His next attempt was also knocked away by a 49ers defender, this time it was Tre Swilling who go a hand on Darnold’s throw to Tay Martin on a deep over route from left to right.
Darnold followed up the two incompletions by connecting with Martin, Darnold’s third or fourth read on the play, for a short gain. Following a drop by Jennings on a screen out to the left, Darnold hit Willie Snead with a nice throw on a quick out to the right.
The veteran quarterback was given one move the ball series. Facing second and 14, Darnold attempted a short throw to Cameron Latu but it was batted down at the line of scrimmage by Austin Bryant. A checkdown thrown the ensuing third and long came up well short of the line to gain.
Darnold was given one more opportunity but couldn’t cash in when his throw deep down the middle sailed over the head of the receiver who was wide open.
Brandon Allen
Allen appears to be in line to be the 49ers third string quarterback.
He was given just three passes today and hit two of them. The first completion for Allen came on a short throw to Brayden Willis after working from his right to left. Three plays later he layered a deep out over the head of safey Myles Hartsfield to Willis for a 16 yard gain along the left sideline.
Austin Bryant
Bryant has been coming on strong. On consecutive plays today he recorded a tackle for loss on a run to the right side and knocked a Sam Darnold pass down at the line of scrimmage.
Spencer Waege
The undrafted free agent rookie defensive lineman is doing everything he can to make it hard for the 49ers to not keep him around.
He continued to look explosive off the line of scrimmage, and today he was able to get his hands on a Darnold pass over the middle and bat it down.
Jalen Graham
Graham ran stride for stride with Brayden Willis deep down the middle of the field to force an incompletion from Brandon Allen to end practice.
Aaron Banks
Banks left practice early on Tuesday due to cramping issues. According to offensive line coach Chris Foerster, Banks had lost 15 pounds of water during practice the day before.
Spencer Burford and Colton McKivitz
The right side of the 49ers offensive line drew praise from Foerster for their consistent play throughout training camp.
Third tackle position
The 49ers third tackle spot appears to be coming down to Matt Pryor, Jaylon Moore, and Leroy Watson.
Pryor has been coming on over the last week and a half, while Moore has struggled to return from a bone bruise to his knee.
Now hold on here! Didn’t I just see on tv and the website that Sam Darnold won the backup job? And now he had another bad day? Sounds inconsistant to me. Brock better not get hurt again, or we might be in trouble. The hated Cowboys at least have a great backup in Cooper Rush. I wish we had him for a backup.
Yeah, but what you DIDN’T hear was anything about Trey Lance.
You really think Purdy elbow is healed. It takes the human body at least a year to completely heal. Any person has had major surgery can tell you that.
You are 200% correct
It depends on the type of surgery and the recovery time. Medical professionals have been giving their opinions and Lynch and Shanahan have been limiting his reps. But what would we know compared to your doctorate in dumbass?!?
KS said today in his interview with KNBR that he expects TL to play in Fridays game.
Can’t believe a thing Shanahan says out of his mouth. Especially if he picked Darnold over Trey for qb 2 even though Trey out played him and he didn’t want a true competition between and Trey and Brock
Leave the decisions to the coaches who see these qbs everyday….obvious Trey has a lot of issues still or he’d be playing! Dont think any coach wants to eat 3 first round picks on a mistake!
JC,
He said that from the start. Purdy was his starter the only competition was for QB 2.
If Lance never turns out to be what THE FANS think he is, then the mistake will have to be eaten….fans aren’t at practice everyday..they aren’t in the meeting rooms with Kyle, Griese and the QBs…sure, teammates all say glowing things about Lance, but does anybody expect different? The Yorks will be dining on the three first round draft pick mistake…since, IMHO, they were the driving force behind the decision to draft Lance…
Hey, that’s great. I would like to see him again to see if he is getting even better with each passing game. You see, if he does it would increase his trade value if that’s the way SF wants to go. Personally, I would rather he stay, really. I see possible Patrick Mahome – like potential in him given time. Naturally, with Brock Purdy as the starter and Sam Darnold having won the backup role, I don’t see much chance of Trey developing except when he’s observing and studying the playbook. He needs hands on experience on the field with the starters which includes the starting o-linemen.
You are 200% correct
…kind of a dark day. Must be super hard on Trey. I think the nail in the coffin was that pick on the screen pass last week (running back needs to run that route deeper to the flat, and for the love of God you can’t throw that if the back is standing next to the DE). Too bad, he was awesome after that too. I hope he has success somewhere, but if so that’ll be hard to stomach too. I wouldn’t mind if we kept him as the 3rd qb this year, we might need him, but if hes not playing itd be nice to get a player back in a trade (cb or o-line). Pick would be ok, but doesn’t help us now and we might as well trade him next off-season if the compensation is a pick.
Glad to hear Brock is playing well.
Could be its coming down to a choice between Brandon Allen and TL. Anyone who suggested that KS liked Allen over the other 2 qbs may be on to something, why would they sign Allen and why would he come here as a 4th qb, seemed kind of strange to me
Really what are the 9er brass to do with Trey at the end of his contract? I think now it is clear they are ready to move on unless someone gets hurt
What people don’t get is that KS has some big balls!
It takes balls to use THREE 1st round picks on one guy.
It takes even bigger balls to admit that this was a huge mistake by putting your pick on third.
Good on you Kyle for not trying to play Lance, just to show that he’s still your guy.
It’s time to move on!
Quote Unquote From The Ringer–A Truly Devastating Indictment of Shanahan & the Niners Front Office.
If this is the end, the Lance trade will go down among the worst in NFL history purely by outcome. Because Lance has been more absent than bad, and because the 49ers have been a good team since drafting him, it’s easy to gloss over how much San Francisco lost by using three high picks on a quarterback who has given them 102 pass attempts over two years. Hindsight is not the fairest way to evaluate draft choices, but it is reality, and that reality is pretty brutal for San Francisco. Lance trails all four of the other quarterbacks drafted in the 2021 first round, plus third-round pick Davis Mills, by a margin of over 3,000 passing yards in career production. Zach Wilson has been five times as productive as Lance.
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The opportunity cost also looks massive. The 12 players drafted shortly after Lance include seven Pro Bowlers, including wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, tight end Kyle Pitts, offensive tackle Penei Sewell, cornerback Patrick Surtain II, linebacker Micah Parsons, offensive tackle Rashawn Slater, and quarterback Mac Jones, whom Shanahan was rumored to be interested in leading up to the draft. The Dolphins used the three picks they got from the 49ers to draft a productive and dynamic receiver in Jaylen Waddle and as trade compensation for two star veterans in wide receiver Tyreek Hill and pass rusher Bradley Chubb. The Eagles, tangentially involved after Miami traded them San Francisco’s original no. 12 pick to go up to no. 6 for Waddle, traded in turn with Dallas to move to no. 10, where they selected receiver DeVonta Smith, who has 2,112 receiving yards through two seasons. The Cowboys took Parsons, probably the best non-quarterback of the first round, with the 49ers’ original pick at no. 12. It’s ugly.
why does this matter? whats done is done we still went to the nfc championship game last year. to rehash this failed trade over and over again is pointless and boring. you cant rewrite history. time to move on
Some fans forget that this regime drafted six of the top 80 NFL players. I disliked the trade from the get-go, thought it was foolish and still do. However, this regime has put together a team that can make a really bad blunder but due to the continual success of the team that blunder will blend into obscurity. Injuries often change the path of the player and the team, it happens.
I disliked the trade as well. Good for the FO in appearing to move on from their mistake. But, the key is to learn from these mistakes. I’m just not convinced that will happen. Let’s face it, the 1st round picks have been mostly disappointing, except of course for Bosa (but that pick was about as easy as it gets). I never have understood and still don’t understand this infatuation with QB physical measurables. To me the job is mostly mental and highly augmented by experience. There are plenty of examples of QBs who don’t have the measurables that are very good to elite. I wonder if there has ever been a QB with as little experience as Lance who was a top 5 or even 10 pick. Having said all of this, Lance shouldn’t be blamed. He was given an opportunity that he had to take. He was and is not ready to succeed as an NFL QB. But in a few years, he could be on a trajectory similar to Geno Smith.
I certainly do not blame Lance for any of this mess, it did not pan out as planned, so be it.
Hi UC:
Didn’t mean to imply that you blamed Lance. Just making it clear that I don’t blame Lance.
Hey Cubus
I didn’t think you did. I too was making it clear that I don’t blame Lance.
Cubus,
I agree on the physical measurables, but I think Trey also had/has the intelligence, personality and leadership skills to be successful. The weakness in the pick was most likely lack of experience. I know they realized this to some extent and were prepared for less than great results until he got that experience, but the injuries derailed their plans and then along came Purdy. Such is life.
This is a mistake that will be corrected by week 3
How??? Have such little confidence in Lynch/Shanahan when it comes to personnel matters like these.
On more then half the teams in the NFL, Lance would have the opportunity and time to develop.
On a Superbowl contending team like the 49ers with Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold, he will not. It’s come down to Trey suddenly finding himself in the wrong situation with two better QBs now ahead of him.
The 49ers are in a great situation to continue winning without Trey Lance, if there’s any saving grace in this it’s that.
If a flag is thrown the play doesn’t count so that’s not an incompletion fyi.