Joe Staley joined NFL Total Access and weighed in on the San Francisco 49ers' quarterback situation. His former team has Jimmy Garoppolo slated to start when the season kicks off in September but drafted the veteran quarterback's successor in Trey Lance.
"Jimmy has been since day one, he's been a winner when he's been with the San Francisco 49ers," Staley told MJ Acosta-Ruiz. "He hasn't been available in a lot of games, and I think that's what the Niners did with drafting Trey Lance. It's a little bit of an insurance policy.
"But Jimmy's going to [be given] every opportunity to win that starting job for training camp, and I think it's good for him because, honestly, as a player myself, I felt entrenched as a left tackle, but when I would get guys that came in as rookies trying to vie for my job, it definitely pushed you a little bit more in training camp. Competition just breeds more success on the football field if you frame it the right way, and I know Jimmy will."
Staley is impressed with the 49ers rookie, though. The No. 3 overall pick is working hard to prepare for training camp and become comfortable with head coach Kyle Shanahan's playbook.
While the 49ers' plan is to have Garoppolo start Week 1, some wonder if Lance might show enough in training camp to prove that he might be ready sooner rather than later.
"But Trey is a very exciting player as well," Staley continued. "His skillset and what he's going to be able to do in Kyle's offense is going to be exciting to see this whole season, and it's going to be really interesting to see how it plays out."