With Jimmy Garoppolo mostly out of the picture in San Francisco, Trey Lance has been making progress towards becoming the leader the 49ers need him to be at quarterback, according to Peter Schrager of FOX Sports and the NFL Network.
Schrager was a guest on The Pat McAfee Show Wednesday and gave his thoughts on the current situation surrounding Garoppolo and Lance. While the 49ers (and perhaps other interested teams) wait for Garoppolo to start throwing again following his offseason shoulder surgery, Schrager says Lance has been winning over his teammates with how he has adjusted to his expected starting role.
"(Garoppolo) has not been with the team," Schrager said. "He has been, for the most part, when he's been training, he's been in Southern California. Trey Lance has been with the team. Trey Lance has been leading practices. Trey Lance has been leading guys. Trey Lance has been throwing with wide receivers. I don't know if the train has left the station as far as like, 'Who are you going into battle with Week 1?' Trey Lance grew leaps and bounds the past few months, from what I'm told, as far as playbook but also as far as voice in the locker room. And with Jimmy being gone, Trey has really taken that and been like, 'Alright, I'm the dude. Follow me.' And a lot of the guys are starting to follow and say, 'Okay, this is going to be our future leader.'"
While Schrager's news on Lance is positive in terms of where the 49ers want their young quarterback to be coming into the season, there's still plenty of uncertainty about what will happen with Garoppolo. It seems certain Garoppolo would prefer to play elsewhere in 2022, but Schrager thinks he may need to spend a little time with the 49ers in late July and August to show his arm is in shape before he finds another team.
"I can see Jimmy being back in San Francisco and then figuring something out and try and trade him during trading camp once he starts getting those throws in," Schrager said.
There was also a quick comment from Schrager on wide Deebo Samuel, who remains in a standoff with the 49ers over his future. Samuel hasn't backed off on his request to be traded from the 49ers, but Schrager thinks the team will continue to communicate with Samuel's agent and try to come up with something that will at least provide a temporary solution.
"I think Deebo, they're still having an open dialogue, and the hope is that the agent, Tory Dandy, and John Lynch can come to some sort of agreement where if it's not an extension at this point, at least we can understand we want Deebo to be a part of this and he will get paid," Schrager said.