San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance is drawing a lot of attention from his teammates.
He most recently earned high praise from wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, who joined the DNP-CD Sports Podcast this week ( via Pro Football Talk).
“The thing about Trey is he’s a very hard-working kid,” Sanu said. “He listens, very diligent, and he’s the type of kid that puts in the extra work. I just love his energy. You can tell the way he comes in the room and has so much charisma, and he just has that ‘it factor.’ It’s cool to see.”
Naturally, Sanu was asked to elaborate.
“Just the way he goes out on the field,” Sanu explained. “He’s confident. The confidence that he has and the throws that he’s making. And then when he doesn’t get it right, he is eager to learn and fix it immediately, and that’s something that’s very, very important, especially for the quarterback position.”
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Sanu Talks QB Battle Between Garoppolo & Lance
The Niners took a big leap in this year’s draft––nine spots to be exact––to grab the North Dakota State product at No. 3 overall.
Lance’s 2020 season at NDSU was cut short due to COVID-19 so he’s entering the NFL with little experience, still, Sanu sees plenty of potential.
“Such a young kid, but still he has a special talent,” Sanu continued. “It’s just up to him to keep working every day, do his thing, and his opportunity will come when it comes.”
It’s clear that head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. want to move on from veteran Jimmy Garoppolo, but when that will actually happen remains up in the air. And while Garoppolo is slated to start Week 1, the competition will be hot heading into training camp next week––meaning we could see Lance’s debut sooner rather than later if he performs well.
And good news for Lance, Sanu has zero preference.
“I’m comfortable with both of them,” Sanu shared. They’re both really, really good quarterbacks. They’re both going to make us win games, whoever wins the job. I’m confident in both of them. I know the team is all about us working together, working toward that one common goal, coming each day, stacking those days.”
Lance hasn’t taken many days off this summer as he and Sanu have been spending their free time together working out together in California.
Shanahan Remains Open to Lance Starting
Shanahan believes Garowill be Week 1’s starter since it’s usually tough for a rookie QB to compete with a vetted quarterback.
However, he’s not opposed to the idea if Lance can “wow” them.
“I definitely see it as Jimmy’s the starter,” Shanahan told The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami, “but if Trey’s ready to compete, I have no problem with it. I don’t sit there and say, ‘Hey, we’re not playing a rookie quarterback. We have to rest him the first year.’ … I don’t really make any decisions like that until I actually have an opinion on it. And that’ll take to how I see him in camp. If he comes in and he’s playing at a high level and we think he gives us the best chance to win, we wouldn’t hesitate to do that.”
Lance played just one game last season, but it was the year prior that he made a name for himself. In 2019, he threw for 2,786 yards, 28 touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground. His athleticism and ability to be a dual-threat signal-caller are what stood out to Shanahan and the reason they moved up to snag him.
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49ers Mohamed Sanu Raves About Trey Lance’s ‘It’ Factor’