Originally posted by SmokeyJoe:
Originally posted by 49ersRing:
It's not a new "conspiracy". It was being pushed here by people since Darnold signed here. The camp battle is irrelevant. You don't know if Darnold outplayed Trey any better than people know if Trey outplayed Darnold. What we do know is that many people who are well connected to the Shanahan's and who receive first dibs on all of the leaks were 100% certain that Darnold was going to be the #2 before OTAs even started. That doesn't give the impression that the thumb wasn't on the scale for this "competition".
You're conflating this result with what was actually argued when Darnold signed. I was one of those people making the arguments when he did, lol.
I also made no claim to know who looked better in camp. I said reports were mixed and Darnold outplayed Trey in the games… which I did see. I also thought Darnold would likely be QB2 coming into the competition because he's simply a better player than the version of Lance we had seen up until camp. I just didn't know how much Trey would actually improve. I assumed little because he needs real playing time.
If you think Trey couldn't have come in and taken that QB2 job through his play and the outcome was predetermined, you're mistaken. He didn't do it because he's not good enough right now. Development and potential mean jack s**t when we have our QB1 in Purdy and don't have the PT necessary for Lance.
I think that it's clear from the way certain members of the media reacted when Darnold was signed and leading up to OTAs that it was clear that Darnold was being treated by Shanahan as the incumbent for that QB2 spot. Was it entirely impossible for Trey to unseat him? No, but Darnold would have had to play poorly and Lance would have had to be significantly better than him. It's not much different than an election in a heavily gerrymandered district. Realistically, the outcome was predetermined, because the gap between the two was never going to be wide enough for it to sway Kyle.
That's an insane statistic. Brock is QB1 for a reason and probably 1/2 the reason that Trey is now on a possible Trade block. Having said that, I'm with Kyle, lets Keep Trey for as long as possible as insurance for any QB injuries. Then, prior to the trade deadline, move Trey to a team that will do him right and develop him to his full potential. Trey's going to be a good QB in the NFL, he just needs reps and more reps, and a team willing to give him those reps. 49ers can't, they already have their QB1 franchise QB. Looks like Kyle got lucky on that one. They need Trey's 2024 cap space to keep the rest of their players (read Bosa) for the wide open Super bowl window. Notice that once Trey was demoted to QB3, the Bosa contract negotiations started to heat up.
