Deebo Samuel has no doubt the San Francisco 49ers can win a Super Bowl with Trey Lance at quarterback. Recovering from two ankle surgeries, Lance expects to be full-go once the 49ers kick off organized team activities in May. Jimmy Garoppolo is scheduled to hit free agency, and Brock Purdy will undergo surgery on February 22 to repair the ligament damage suffered in the NFC Championship Game, sidelining him for about six months.
That leaves Lance as the only healthy 49ers quarterback heading into the offseason. He'll have an opportunity to prove to his coaches that he can still be the team's starter.
The 49ers have come close to a championship during three of the last four seasons, reaching the NFC Championship Game three times and the Super Bowl once. On Thursday, Rich Eisen asked Samuel if San Francisco can win a Super Bowl with Lance under center.
"Yes, sir," Samuel responded.
On Wednesday, Lance sat down with Eisen and shared that he doesn't expect or want the starting job handed to him. Instead, he expects to earn it.
"Brock played way too well, and Brock played at such a high level and handled himself the right way," Lance said. "I wouldn't want it to be a situation where I'm just handed something."
Samuel has a great deal of respect for Lance and the response the quarterback provided to Eisen.
"That just shows you the type of person Trey is, knowing the 12 [game win] streak that Brock came off of," Samuel said. "I mean, nothing is going to be handed to any quarterback that comes in. Kyle is going to make sure everybody gets a fair chance to compete to be the guy that runs the offense."
You can watch the segment with Samuel below.