Kurtenbach: Day 1 of the Trey Lance Knowledge is upon us

Past season was wild for the 49ers.

What, with the 3-5 start out, the extensive receiver actively playing running again, the frequent quarterback query, the playoff game titles that were being won on the gaffes of their opponents, and then the botching a fourth-quarter direct with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

And the Niners could have even additional chaos in shop for us in 2022.

The NFL product or service normally captivates, and there might not be a far more exciting and unpredictable crew in the league than the Niners this time.

For some groups, it’s Super Bowl or bust. The 49ers are section of that class this year. This workforce is as gifted as any in the league. In fact, San Francisco could start a new dynasty if that purpose is reached.

The Niners could also redefine “bust” if they fail.

And each opportunities feel equally likely ahead of Sunday’s time opener in Chicago.

Let’s start off with the very good: The Niners participate in in a large-open up convention — six teams have 10-to-1 odds or far better to stand for the NFC in the Tremendous Bowl. With the Niners boasting All-Pros on offense and a defense that could rival the team’s elite 2019 unit, San Francisco may possibly just be a fantastic wager.

But the Niners also enter 2022 with a “rookie” starting up quarterback — coach Kyle Shanahan’s description, not mine — and a single of the hardest schedules in the NFL.

The Niners also have the horrible behavior of currently being a single of the NFL’s most injured groups, yr following 12 months. Preseason injuries to commencing absolutely free safety Jimmie Ward and limited stop George Kittle could be a indication that the curse has not been damaged.

A young quarterback, a difficult plan, and a penchant for injuries. Superior groups have been taken down by much less.

And then there is the fantastic peculiarity that will persist through the season: past year’s starting up quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, is even now on the crew inspite of the Niners’ effort and hard work to trade him.

He’s Lance’s again-up now.

Oh, and then there’s the new offense Lance will run.

The group is retaining it beneath wraps, but at the centre of the Niners’ offense this season really should be the zone-browse run, the place the quarterback can hand the ball to the operating again or continue to keep it for a run of his own. It is a little bit of a blast from the previous for Niners fans.

Shanahan ran the zone-browse as Washington’s offensive coordinator a decade in the past, turning quarterback Robert Griffin III into the VFAB’s Offensive Rookie of the Yr. Then-49ers coach Jim Harbaugh noticed Shanahan’s offense from afar and seemed for strategies to set up similar appears to be like into the Niners’ assault.

Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman tried using the zone-study with then starting quarterback Alex Smith, but his carries lacked video game-altering pop.

Backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s did not.

The Niners ran, ran, and ran with Kaepernick to a Super Bowl berth in 2012 and an NFC Championship Recreation visual appearance in 2013. Can they do the identical with Lance in 2022 and outside of?

And whilst a ton has changed in the NFL around the previous 10 years, Shanahan thinks the zone-examine is however a viable offense in 2022.

“It’s a very sound scheme,” Shanahan stated in 2018. “Is your quarterback excellent sufficient to run with the football to make them commit to stop it? And as soon as they do, is he very good sufficient to make the passes that he has to that they just opened up?”

“It’s challenging to find that male.”

Shanahan thinks the Niners found that dude in the 2021 draft, and they traded three initially-spherical picks to draft Lance.

That hypothesis desires to be tested on the subject, nevertheless. The younger quarterback, in his 2nd NFL time, has thrown only 389 passes in non-exhibition video games considering the fact that superior faculty.

If Lance is the serious deal, the 49ers should be an improved workforce from very last 12 months — a campaign the place all the things seemed to go erroneous, and yet the Niners ended up oh-so-near to enjoying in the Super Bowl.

If Lance is not “that man,” then the dilemma is if he’s greater than Garoppolo, both of those in theory and follow.

Quarterbacks are all the things in the modern day NFL, producing 2022 a pivotal yr for the 49ers and Shanahan. The Niners’ head mentor came to the Bay in 2017 with a mandate to turn close to an organization that had grow to be a laughingstock after that 2013 period. The Niners’ berth in the Tremendous Bowl two years afterwards obtained that target. Then the bar was raised. The Niners are even now one of the NFL’s leading franchises, after all.