Getty Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance of the 49ers.
San Francisco 49ers legend Frank Gore has spoken: He believes the 49ers have a quarterback who is “better than a lot of guys.”
But is it Jimmy Garoppolo? Or is it Trey Lance? The man who spent 10 of his 16 seasons in the NFL with the 49ers told @TheSFNiners who it is.
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Gore Weighs In
Gore first addressed Garoppolo’s situation with remaining on the roster after the constant trade chatter.
The 38-year-old acknowledged that the veteran quarterback undergoing surgery on his shoulder on March 8 (just eight days before the start of the free agency signing period) has set things back for both him and the 49ers’ front office to find a trade destination.
Gore mentioned how going under the knife in the hospital delays not only Jimmy G’s chance to sling the football in front of teams who want to watch him throw, but also slows up his trade value. However, Gore is a fan of Garoppolo.
“I still think Jimmy G is better than a lot of guys out here in the league,” Gore said. “I can’t say what he’s going to do, but he’s a winner. He’s been to the NFC Championship twice. He’s been to the Super Bowl. You look at his record when he was with the 49ers — he’s a winner. Every time he’s on the field, they have success.”
Gore, who ran for 11,073 of his 16,000 career rushing yards with the 49ers according to Pro Football Reference, has witnessed Jimmy G lead the ‘Niners to the NFC title in the 2019 season and the conference championship game this past season in Gore’s post 49ers career — with his final season in the Bay in 2014 before the team brought Garoppolo and head coach Kyle Shanahan in.
Gore on Lance
While Gore praised Garoppolo, that doesn’t mean he’s diminishing Lance.
Gore, however, believes there’s one area that the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft needs more of.
“I think when you watch him coming out of college, I think he’s got talent. I just think he needs more reps,” Gore said. “And when he was playing in preseason, I saw that he was doing some good things.”
However, Gore stated that he noticed a slight slump with Lance’s development.
“I just think when he took that time off, and they let Jimmy G be the guy, then when Jimmy G got hurt, you could tell he kind of went backwards a little bit,” Gore said. “But he (does) have talent. I just think he needs the reps. I think once Kyle knows what he’s really good at because Kyle is one of the greatest play-callers in the league right now. I think Kyle will figure it out (a way) for him to have success.”
Gore was asked: Is Lance the long-term answer?
“We’ve got to see,” Gore responded. “We’ve got to wait until he gets on the field to see. I can’t say if he’s the long-term answer right now because I didn’t see a lot. But coming out of college, he did have talent, and they traded up a lot to get him.”