Can San Francisco 49ers Challenge for the Super Bowl with Trey Lance as Starting QB?

It’s perhaps one of the worst kept secrets in football that Jimmy Garoppolo wants to find a way out of San Francisco.

The 30-year-old helped the 49ers to the NFC Championship game during the 2021-22 season, and while they came up short there Garoppolo confirmed himself yet again to be a solid – if unspectacular – playmaker sat at NFL’s top table.

The New York Giants are just one of the franchises said to be interested in capturing the two-time Super Bowl champion, and despite Garoppolo reportedly looking strong in pre-season training following his shoulder injury, it has also been noted that the 49ers appear to be planning for life without him already.

Trey Lance was restricted to just two appearances as a rookie due to the form of Garoppolo last term, but the 22-year-old is likely to be thrust into the limelight if – or, perhaps, when – the 49ers’ current starting quarterback says his goodbyes.

Those that keep a close eye on training camp developments suggest that Kyle Shanahan has already ‘moved on’ to Lance, and so his expansive playbook will now be built around the talents of a young man who caught the eye in his fleeting glimpses on the field in 2021-22.

In theory, the 49ers should challenge the best of the best in the NFC Conference if Lance can replicate the numbers of Garoppolo, and anyone placing their Super Bowl bets might be interested in the +1600 odds for San Francisco if their 21-year-old unpolished gem can reach levels beyond his predecessor with the ball in hand.

At least Lance will be surrounded by elite-level support at Levi’s Stadium…

In Good Company

Even the most pessimistic 49ers supporters would pinpoint a 3,000+ yard, 20 touchdown season for Lance if he remains fit and healthy.

Even though this will be his second campaign in the NFL, in many ways Lance is still a rookie – he made just two starts in what would have been a frustrating 2021 for a youngster desperate to make his mark.

But there are few better coaches to have on your side as a rookie than Shanahan, who was widely regarded as one of the best offensive coordinators around prior to taking the top job in San Francisco.

Attack remains his primary focus even as a head coach, and to that end, he will have been delighted with the contract extension penned by Deebo Samuel, which will keep the wide receiver in California until 2025 at the earliest.

He served up the best season of his career in 2021 despite being forced into action as a running back at times, and with concerns of ‘overuse’ seemingly settled between Samuel and Shanahan, it’s likely he will be deployed exclusively in his best position this term.

Elijah Mitchell can be trusted to pick up the slack as a quality rusher, while George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk can act as foils to Samuel when the time comes to mix things up.

Lance, Samuel, Mitchell, Shanahan… all of the ingredients for another stellar 49ers campaign are there on offense. If the pieces of the puzzle come together, and they defend as well as they attack, San Francisco could prove to be a key player in the Super Bowl shake-up come the end of the year.