Kurtenbach: Don’t blame Kyle Shanahan for Trey Lance’s ankle harm
[ad_1]
SANTA CLARA — Trey Lance faked the first-quarter handoff and carried the ball up the middle of the subject.
It was his third up-the-middle in the activity. It was his ultimate run of the game. It will almost certainly be his last run of the time.
Lance injured his correct ankle on the zone-examine operate. When he tried to get up, the ankle was pointing 90 levels to the ideal — a byproduct of a late slide try and a collision with Seattle linebacker Cody Barton.
Quarterbacks are future in the NFL, so when a team’s starter goes down with a terrible, likely time-ending personal injury like the a single Lance experienced Sunday, the all-natural response is to come across an individual or something to blame.
The first location fingers will position is towards Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers’ head mentor and play caller.
Shanahan experienced named for 29 intended operates — additional than fifty percent of his in general dashing tries — in Lance’s to start with four NFL commences. The vast bulk of these built operates experienced appear up the middle.
It’s easy to say that Lance was bound to be injured when he was utilised like a fullback.
The situation, as Lance defined previously this week, is that if he was likely to operate the ball, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterback experienced to go up the center.
“I’m not even bigger, more quickly, and stronger than fairly a lot every person else,” Lance said. “Guys capture up a good deal a lot quicker, space is loaded, guys close a good deal faster.
“I have to discover to safeguard myself, just remaining in a unique condition knowing how important it is for me to stay healthy… For the most portion, when I’m working involving the tackles or jogging on third down, I’m not ever going to slide and go fourth-and-two and just give up on the participate in.”
The feedback turned out to be prescient.
We had found on Lance’s 53 continuing operates in advance of his fateful 1 Sunday that he was not kidding about defenders closing considerably faster. Lamar Jackson, he is not.
Final time, in Lance’s 1st job begin versus the Arizona Cardinals, the rookie quarterback was chased down by opposing defensive finishes with gorgeous relieve. It was a harsh welcome-to-the-NFL minute.
“Guys coming downhill, fellas really don't wait,” Lance claimed Wednesday.
Lance has a large amount of expertise, but in three-in addition game titles as a starter, he had not demonstrated the capability to proficiently go the ball down the discipline with just his arm. His problem finishing small and medium passes could be countered by his capacity to run the ball up the middle. It was an efficient — and vital at this early stage in his occupation — section of shifting the chains.
The Niners coaches hoped that the far more snaps Lance took and the a lot more methods he had, the far more successful he would grow to be as a thrower, diminishing the have to have to operate the ball.
Shanahan was accomplishing the most he could with the quarterback he drafted for the sake of the staff that surrounded him.
Was there possibility in that approach? Of system. But just about every perform in football is a hazard — it’s extremely hard to test to keep away from that danger and nevertheless acquire game titles. Primarily when you have a quarterback who requires reps on the discipline.
You simply cannot protect a quarterback — and restrict your offense — with a single that had not but demonstrated he could acquire games by himself.
You just cannot blame Lance for a freak personal injury, and you cannot blame Shanahan for contacting plays that he thought would maintain Niners’ offense on the area.
The only knock on Shanahan that would be reasonable is that he had place a quarterback who was not ready to enjoy on the subject.
But Lance was never ever heading to develop into ready sitting down on the sideline. When he returns — most probable following season — the similar reality will apply.
[ad_2]
0 comments:
Post a Comment