Gold Standard Poll: How Much Should Trey Lance Play Preseason?

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Schrödinger’s cat is one of the most famous thought experiments in quantum mechanics. In the experiment, a cat is placed in a box with a vial of poison that breaks open at a random time. Since no one knows when or if the poison will be released, the cat can be presumed to be both alive and dead until the box is opened. Ditto for Trey Lance this preseason.

Put simply, every time a player steps onto the soccer field, they are taking a risk. We saw that with Ryan Jensen today, and we saw it last year with Trey Lance. One of the main reasons Trey has the starting job now is Jimmy Garoppolo’s inability to stay healthy all season. Unfortunately, Lance also sustained two injuries during his limited career as a pro.

49ers’ downside, the new starter’s biggest red flag is his lack of passing attempts in college and after one season in the NFL. Would it really be the wisest course of action to limit your preseason replays?

That’s exactly the question I asked Levin on today’s Gold Standard Podcast. He doesn’t think we’ll see a lot of Trey Lance before the start of the regular season, but for a different reason.

“I don’t think he plays much. I think the team knows what he is and they want to hide it. You want a team to start Week 1 with the thought, “Well, maybe Trey’s going to have problems, so let’s go ahead and load up the box and see if he can beat us.”

Think about it, if he goes out and dominates preseason, I think teams would play him differently [in the regular season]. They want the bears to give Trey Lance every opportunity in the world to dominate.”

I understand you want to maintain a level of mystery with Lance because you want to squeeze as much juice as possible from teams that don’t have tape on the new offense. However, if Lance can’t execute this new offense efficiently because he doesn’t have enough reps, it doesn’t matter if teams are caught off guard.

Much of this season will revolve around gathering information about Trey. Kyle Shanahan has spoken about him needing time to learn his strengths and weaknesses, how the defense will attack him, etc. We also need to know whether or not he’s capable of staying healthy over long periods of play. None of that knowledge can be gained unless Trey is out there in the field. Quarterbacks are not collectibles. Finally, you need to take them out of the box and see exactly what you have.

Finally you have to open the box. Why wait until week 1?

But I’m happy to be convinced. What do you think? Should the 49ers save Lance as much as possible for the regular season, or should they rock the preseason and drop the chips where they want? Vote in our poll and leave a comment below!

opinion poll

How Much Should Trey Lance Play Preseason?

  • 0%
    At least the first half of every game

    (0 votes)

  • 0%
    A lot in the second game, but not much else

    (0 votes)

  • 0%
    As little as possible to keep him sane/hidden

    (0 votes)


0 votes in total

vote now

More topics on today’s show

  • A possible framework for a contract with Deebo Samuel (3:19)
  • Would $70 million be guaranteed too much? (6:32)
  • The 49ers are drama-free for the first time in a while (10:25)
  • How Much Should Trey Lance Play Preseason? (12:06)
  • The hardest thing about this season as a fan (12:43)
  • How important is the offensive line now that this is an open competition? (24:22)
  • Is this the best squad Kyle Shanahan has ever had? (28:03)
  • Why Kyle Juszczyk will matter more than ever (33:41)

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