Niners set to build on Trey Lance’s strength as rookie QB makes maiden start against Cardinals

The San Francisco 49ers offense won’t change drastically for one start.

Trey Lance, the third overall pick in the April Draft, replaces Jimmy Garoppolo today against the undefeated Arizona Cardinals and when Garoppolo is healthy he gets his job back. That’s what head coach Kyle Shanahan made clear this week. In fact, the hope is that it will only be a weeklong stay for Lance, with Jimmy G returning from a bruised calf next week.

That said, it’s a fascinating opportunity to get an in-depth look at the only first-round QB that hasn’t started yet.

What will it look like? According to John Beck, who worked with Lance until the draft, this will only be a glimpse into the future.

“I know the coaches want Trey to be Trey, with all he can bring on offense being very athletic and dynamic,” said Beck, a respected QB coach who works with guru Adam Dedeaux, CEO of 3DQB in California. “Those elements of the game will be built into the game plan for him. And they’re going to perform what he’s comfortable with. They know what games he’s confident in, that’s what they’re going to rely on.”

The 6-foot-4, 224-pound Lance has already got its feet wet. A touchdown pass in the first game to start. Then, two more last week in place of the injured Garoppolo. All of this will help ease the nerves today as his team take on Arizona.

“It’s great for a quarterback to have felt this before,” said Beck, “before his first start at the NFL level.”

Shahanan, announcing the decision on Friday, emphasized familiarity. Basically, they’ll do what Lance does best, but within the limits of the offense.

“You don’t want to sit there and invent too many new things,” Shanahan said. “It’s only a few days of practice and we just want to make sure he’s as comfortable as possible.”

So it won’t be drastically different. But San Fran will benefit from Lance’s athleticism that Garoppolo may not have.

“There will be little wrinkles that will be Trey Lance,” Beck said. “Elements of athleticism and bad leadership because of what he did in the RPO game in college. The 49ers will be the 49ers, but it will be woven like little threads.”