Reporter offers hint at how 49ers might use rookie QB Trey Lance in 2021

The San Francisco 49ers have been adamant that Jimmy Garoppolo will be the team’s starting quarterback in 2021. However, there have also been clear suggestions that rookie Trey Lance will have a role, too.

49ers reporter Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area offered his thoughts on how the 49ers will find uses for Lance in 2021. Maiocco told KNBR that he believes the 49ers will mix Lance in like the team did with Colin Kaepernick during Kaepernick’s second NFL season. That means Lance will likely get some specialty plays, which can continue if the team is successful or be used as a platform for a larger role if Garoppolo struggles.

Maiocco said, via Jake Montero of KNBR:

“I still think it’s a long shot at this point that Lance will open the season as the starter. I don’t think anybody is expecting that to happen. I’ve never covered a team where you have two legitimate quarterbacks and both are going to play. I guess that 2012 season, which was Kaepernick’s second year, they started mixing him in for some specialty plays, and I think that’s what you are going to see with the rookie Lance this year.

“Just give him opportunities, give him a little bit more every week. If the team is winning, you keep that recipe, but it also gives you kind of a hedge in case the quarterback play from Garoppolo isn’t what Kyle Shanahan wants it to be.”

Coach Kyle Shanahan has made clear that Lance will play in some form. One possibility is that he could be used for gadget plays, similar to how the New Orleans Saints have deployed Taysom Hill in past seasons. Clearly their future plans for Lance are big, but 2021 could offer a tantalizing taste of what is to come.