Rookie QB: More Reps or sit a year?

There seems to be 2 schools of thought. One school of thought is that what is necessary to make a rookie QB a great starter is reps in real games. The other school of thought is that you can break a rookie QB if you start them too early. They will end up taking too many sacks early on which then gets them running scared and learning bad habits. They lose too many games and lose confidence in their abilities. However, if you sit them a year you can help them have more success when they do start playing, and since they are playing at a higher level than as a rookie, they can avoid some of those sacks, and be less afraid/overwhelmed when they do get on the field.

I know that 49ers have an additional thing to consider in that they are a win now team and JG would probably win more games than a rookie, but that isn't a consideration for this poll. Philosophically, do you think it is better for a rookie QB to play or to sit the first year?

It depends on the team that the QB is drafted to, but overall I think sitting one year will help the QB in the long run, especially if his college offense did things very differently than his NFL offense. Maybe they don't have to sit the entire rookie year and begin playing at some point past the midway part of the season. As it pertains to the rookie QB that the 49ers are about to select, I think having him sit a year would be very beneficial considering the verbiage of Kyle's offense. The other factor specific to this offseason is that there may be less OTA stuff than usual due to the pandemic, which won't allow the rookie to be as prepared when compared to a typical offseason. There were some good looking rookie QBs last year that counters that point, but I think it is a factor.

IMO it depends on the supporting cast, Coach and QB. In our situation this year I believe all but Lance could start right away.

It depends on the QB.

Jones or Fields let em play.

Lance or Wilson let em learn.

I agree with Thl, but for as well as the rookie's played, none of them had winning records.

As much as I'd like to sit the rookie a whole year, if it's Fields like I expect, the allure to get him in there will be too strong.

I actually predict we trade Jimmy around training camp.

If it is Fields / Lance, Jimmy will start and Fields / Lance will come in with gadget plays much like what Harbaugh did with Kaepernick in 2011. I can see Shanahan doing more than the occasional play - as compared to Harbaugh / Kap in 2011 - and use the Fields / Lance in Year 1 like the Saints do with Taysom Hill. This will allow them to get a feel for the speed of the game in Year 1 and also allow them to contribute to this years team - which by all accounts is aiming to win the SuperBowl.

If the rookie QB is Jones, let him sit and watch the whole season unless Jimmy gets hurt.

Originally posted by 49erBigMac:
I agree with Thl, but for as well as the rookie's played, none of them had winning records.

As much as I'd like to sit the rookie a whole year, if it's Fields like I expect, the allure to get him in there will be too strong.

I actually predict we trade Jimmy around training camp.

I don't mind us keeping Jimmy around this year but the more time that passed the more I have a feeling that there is going to be a draft day trade involving him.

Unless we draft Lance. Then we keep him at all cost and let Lance be a sponge for a year.

If he's better than Jimmy there is no reason to sit him. Play the best player.

The reason I posted this poll is how you answer it could have a big impact on how the 49ers handle JG. If you believe that philosophically, it is better for a rookie QB to sit a year, then you are going to keep JG. It doesn't even matter if you are offered a 1st round pick. 49ers cannot afford for this rookie QB to fail - it will probably result in Lynch and possibly Kyle being fired.

However, if you don't believe there is a long term benefit to a rookie sitting a year, then it is to the 49ers advantage to trade JG for whatever you can get for him, and save 25 million on the cap. The only reason to keep JG and still sit the rookie despite thinking the rookie would benefit from starting, is if you believe JG would win more games and get you to a Super Bowl.

Originally posted by fryet:
The reason I posted this poll is how you answer it could have a big impact on how the 49ers handle JG. If you believe that philosophically, it is better for a rookie QB to sit a year, then you are going to keep JG. It doesn't even matter if you are offered a 1st round pick. 49ers cannot afford for this rookie QB to fail - it will probably result in Lynch and possibly Kyle being fired.

However, if you don't believe there is a long term benefit to a rookie sitting a year, then it is to the 49ers advantage to trade JG for whatever you can get for him, and save 25 million on the cap. The only reason to keep JG and still sit the rookie despite thinking the rookie would benefit from starting, is if you believe JG would win more games and get you to a Super Bowl.

It's been said that Shannys offense takes at least a year to learn. I'm all for Jimmy starting this year on a SB ready team. Let the rook learn and ball out after this year when his confidence is high

You let them sit and keep building the team up around them. Between this draft and next year's FA and draft you should be able to acquire a few more targets as well as building an improved offensive line so when you do throw them out there, they know the offense because they've been studying it for a year, they've been watching Garoppolo or whatever other veteran playing it for a year, they've been in the meetings with all the coaches, they've made necessary improvements to their footwork and mechanics and they're going to be well protected.

I do think it'd be good to find packages to use a rookie QB in, much like Harbaugh used Kaepernick as a rookie. Find situations where you can take advantage of their talent and help them build up their confidence. If its Lance or Fields you could use them like the Saints used Taysom Hill, put them in some RPO's to help them get used to the speed of NFL defenses

Originally posted by 49erBigMac:
I agree with Thl, but for as well as the rookie's played, none of them had winning records.

As much as I'd like to sit the rookie a whole year, if it's Fields like I expect, the allure to get him in there will be too strong.

I actually predict we trade Jimmy around training camp.

Between picks 4 and 33 is my prediction

Originally posted by GangstaGangsta:
It depends on the QB.

Jones or Fields let em play.

Lance or Wilson let em learn.

If they are playing behind Jimmy G, they may not have to sit long. What's Jimmy's chance of playing past say game 6 ?

Let the rookie sit the whole season.
If Jimmy goes down, let the rookie play if he's earned #2 on the depth chart.
Otherwise let him sit behind the #2 as well.

There is no way the $25 million cap savings is going to benefit us this year getting rid of Garoppolo on draft day. Unless you're bottom feeding to sign a bunch of overpriced late camp cuts.

Originally posted by 5Jan2003:
Let the rookie sit the whole season.
If Jimmy goes down, let the rookie play if he's earned #2 on the depth chart.
Otherwise let him sit behind the #2 as well.

There is no way the $25 million cap savings is going to benefit us this year getting rid of Garoppolo on draft day. Unless you're bottom feeding to sign a bunch of overpriced late camp cuts.

25 million will allow us to sign more of our own players. Whether that be Fred Warner, or our young WR, or Nick Bosa. We don't have to lose any of them this year, but we can push this year's cap to next year, I believe. We can sign players that have high caps in current years, freeing up even more money for future years. So while we don't desperately need cap money this year, there are benefits to removing 25 million from this year's cap.