San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle joined Good Morning Football today and was asked about his new quarterback, rookie Trey Lance. The team concluded its offseason program last week, and won't hit the practice field again until the end of July.
In April, the Niners traded a haul of future picks to move up to the No. 3 overall spot to select Lance. After finally being able to haul in some passes from the quarterback, Kittle has been impressed by the 21-year-old.
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"I think Trey, he has all the attributes to be a very good, very special quarterback," Kittle said. "He's a freak athlete. I think, really, one of my favorite things about him right now, just as a rookie, is that he takes risks. He doesn't complete all the passes that he throws, but he's trying to fit into those small windows, and he's just trying to throw it as hard as he can to get it to that wide receiver, going for him in that second window. And I think that's really fun, just to see a guy take risks, especially when he just turned 21 years old and now just buy me some Bud Light, finally. But it is what it is.
"I'm just excited to see his progress throughout training camp. And he's an eager guy who wants to learn, and I know that when you're in a room with Coach Shanahan, kind of the mastermind, he's going to learn a lot. So, I think he's definitely in the right spot."
The plan is to have quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo start Week 1 against the Detroit Lions and allow Lance the time he needs to sit and learn behind the veteran. It seems that the 49ers have been happy with the rookie's progress so far.