SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Niners have said there will be days like this. There will be days like this, said the Niners.
Sophomore quarterback and newly named starter Trey Lance had a rough day at training camp in San Francisco on Friday morning, but no one is hitting the panic button here just yet.
“There will always be ups and downs. At this point, I’m more worried about how we’re going to react,” Lance told me after practice. “I thought it sure was a little sloppy on my part today. But we will always get better. It’s only day 3 so we have a lot to do.”
Early in team practice, Lance appeared to throw a pass easily past George Kittle, which was intercepted by second-year safety Talanoa Hufanga. A few games later, a deep ball destined for Ray-Ray McCloud was hanging in the clouds and good coverage by Charvarius Ward helped it fall incompletely.
Later, another intended pass to Kittle went incomplete as the tight end seemed to slip and fell off when the ball was released. Lance was high on a sideline pass to Kittle with cornerback Emmanuel Moseley in cover. And finally, Lance’s boot-and-stop throw, intended for Brandon Aiyuk, came as a wounded duck that flapped so much Ward couldn’t time it well enough to get what should have been an interception.
The question today is one that can be repeated throughout camp: how much of that does Lance need on offense versus how much of that is better on defense?
At this point it’s hard to say. The defense could easily be the best in the NFL. Nick Bosa can ruin any game at any point. Fred Warner appeared to get two TFLs on rush attempts during team practice. The Niners have a great defensive backfield with ample depth.
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People I speak to here tell me Lance had a great spring and summer and got better on offense and the huddle. Deebo Samuel should be on the field soon on his new contract (more on that below), and the offensive line is going through a few musical chairs right now.
If Lance struggles at a camp workout before the pads light up, nobody worries here. Lance deserved the opportunity to drive the car here, and I asked him why he thinks the organization has so much faith in a young quarterback taking on a playoff contender.
“I’m confident, but I think that’s a question for these guys,” says Lance. “They know I have their back and I know they have my back 100%. So I’m looking forward to starting this year. I will do everything to be as prepared as possible in week 1 and even in preseason. I’ll be ready to go.”
camp observations
There is great optimism here that Samuel’s contract extension will be completed in the coming days. The prevailing thought was that Samuel would wait for fellow WR DK Metcalf to finalize his deal before inking with the Niners. Metcalf’s deal included a record $30 million bonus and now Samuel has to hit a new mark. Samuel and his agent want a “win” on this deal, whether it’s an average annual value that beats Tyreek Hill’s AAV of $30 million, or a signing bonus that dwarfs Samuels, or a record cash flow in the first three years of business.
Kyle Shanahan likes this roster more than any he’s had in his six years at San Francisco, but there’s an obvious weakness inside the offensive line. Alex Mack’s retirement came as no surprise, but the team still needs Jake Brendel or Daniel Brunskill to land the job. Brunskill could also get the right guard gig, and San Fran had to sack Jaylon Moore early in camp when Mike McGlinchey was returning from a quad injury. The Niners are feeling good with Aaron Banks on the left, but he’s still just a sophomore.
San Francisco would happily trade Jimmy Garoppolo for a non-NFC West team in exchange for a draft pick. I want to get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. Everyone does and says all the right things here when it comes to the franchise’s former QB, but there’s a very real possibility the Niners will simply have to release Garoppolo ahead of the final roster cuts if his 26.95 cap hit million US dollars is committed. Right now there isn’t a team that would reasonably trade for Garoppolo (and his contract), but that could change if quarterback competitions get out of hand in the league and/or key QBs are out with injuries. Still, people I speak to in the league say that if they needed Garoppolo they would just wait for the Niners to cut him and work out a deal for him. It’s a bit of a gamble, of course, but it’s logical. Shanahan even reiterated on Friday that the team will do what is in the best interest of the organization, and that reasonably means trimming it and getting the cap spot.
I know, I know. It’s the “best shape of my life” season at the start of every training camp in the NFL. I had been told to look out for Javon Kinlaw as I entered the camp and how he had improved his physique and when I saw him emerge from a briefing room early Friday morning the change was obvious. Kinlaw appears to have turned some of his softness into lean muscle. He will soon return to training after suffering a knee injury and will play a key role in what the DeMeco Ryans defense is trying to do this year.
The 49ers have had some pretty significant brain drain at various coaching positions lately. They lost former DC Robert Saleh to the Jets and former OC Mike McDaniel to the Dolphins, and Ryans reckons he’s the next coordinator to land a head coaching job soon. John Lynch has assembled an impressive staff on the bay, but his group could be next. Former Niners manager Martin Mayhew is now the GM in Washington, and AGM Adam Peters and Player Personnel Director Ran Carthon have received GM interviews for the past few years and should be getting their recordings very soon.