Former 49ers quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Steve Young joined the TKB Show on KNBR Wednesday afternoon, discussing Jimmy Garoppolo’s tenure in San Francisco, the type of quarterback that should be behind Trey Lance in 2022 and Kyle Shanahan’s view of his offense.
“Jimmy walked into a very difficult position,” Young said of Garoppolo’s time with the 49ers. “He joined the team when they needed a quarterback to make some throws and they didn’t have that. Jimmy can make throws, he’s a starting quarterback in the NFL. How far he could go was limited by the trust between he and Kyle Shanahan never completely getting established.”
With Garoppolo on his way out, Lance would be the only quarterback currently on the roster coming back. So, who does Young think the 49ers should put around the young signal caller?
“I think Trey’s going to be so raw,” Young said of Lance. “We’re going to witness his growth. Who is going to do the growth?”
“I’m a big fan of putting someone around you who can push you,” he continued. “So, I’m not looking to not do that. But more than anything, he needs someone older who can tell him ‘this matters’ or ‘this doesn’t matter.’ … Teach him how to study. How to memorize. How to be reflective recall. So that everything that comes out of him is reflective, and he doesn’t have to think about it.”
“Mike Shanahan, Kyle’s dad, it was driven into you … the data. We need an older guy that can show him in the meeting room and then watch the film every week and go, ‘Trey this does not work,’ or, ‘This is what we need to build on.’ He needs somebody to go tell him all of this stuff, because he’s going to need it.”
Young believes Kyle Shanahan wants to be more expansive with his offense moving forward and the 49ers have the talent to pull it off, which should also help Lance.
“Kyle’s primary goal is not to only be the best running team in the league. I fully believe they can be the best running team in the league and the best passing team,” said Young. “San Francisco has the roster to go do that. I think they have the play caller to go do that.”
“You’ve got a top five offensive line when healthy. Deebo Samuel, I don’t know who else you want to talk about that is a better player. George Kittle, would you trade him for Travis Kelce? I would not. I think he’s a supreme player. Brandon Aiyuk is a guy that I’d love to go play with and be around and throw the ball to. There’s not a better situation out there.”
“Quarterbacking is the ultimate game of … yeah you need to do a lot of it … but you need to have a lot of help, or you have no chance. If I had to choose a place to go play as a quarterback, San Francisco is number one.”
I loved Steve Young the QB, even as so far as rooting for him to keep the starting job when Montana wanted it back.
But man does his analysis suck. He rarely has anything substantive to contribute and speaks in generalities. I think he’s also wrong about Trey’s ability to pick things up and work on them even without older mentorship. I guess it’s hard being an analyst as a former player..
Ya he’s okay on TKB sometimes but I don’t like him on ESPN, he’s too corporate.
Yet he’s pretty successful at it as he gets paid to do it on TV.
how much booze does it take to enjoy this stuff ?
I don’t know. How much?
kind of stupid fans in LA, again, sorry. ridiculous.
“You’ve got a top five offensive line when healthy.”
Steve Young is awesome but jeez this is just plain ignorant. Williams and Tomlinson make up a top 5 left side of the o-line. Alex Mack is average at best. Better in run blocking than pass pro. Brunskill and Compton are bottom 10 in the NFL on the right side. Better in run blocking than pass pro. Even when McGlinchey comes back he’s not a top right tackle. He is a good run blocker but he’s below average in pass pro. 49ers O-line is a bit above average but Williams really tips the scale on the overall ranking. The 49ers obviously need to upgrade right guard. I’ll be shocked if Aaron Banks gets that job so thats a FA or a top end draft pick. I wouldn’t mind the 49ers upgrading Center but I suspect they will stick with Mack. McGlinchey is likely coming back but I still think the 49ers could upgrade that position through FA. But saying the 49ers have a top 5 O line right now is absurd.
According to PFF, the Niners offensive line is #3 in the league. All 5 are tops in run blocking. Mack is excellent at calling out defenses. The 2 on the right side are below average in pass pro but based on the offensive scheme that’s not a big issue. So it’s not really absurd at all is it?
Ya offensive line play is not great in NFL regardless. Most of superior pass blocking units are poor in run blocking or their offense does not run the the ball.