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In today’s Nuggets, you’ll read about DeMeco Ryans and if he’ll cost the 49ers in 2021, the odds for the Week 1 starter at quarterback, a great story about Keena Turner from Nick Wagoner, the legend of Jalen Hurd, and what Trey Lance’s usage might be as a rookie.
Saleh was the 49ers secret weapon. He routinely outcoached the best offensive minds in the NFL, because his game plans were masterful and his in-game adjustments were even better.
But Saleh wasn’t always so great. When he first came to the 49ers, he never had been a coordinator before, and it showed. He was a system coach — he used Pete Carroll’s defensive system. And the 49ers lost certain games because Saleh couldn’t adjust on the fly.
Saleh evolved and improved rapidly. And Ryans might do the same. But if Saleh had a learning curve and struggled at first, won’t Ryans as well? How many games will the 49ers win in 2021 specifically because of an adjustment Ryans made? How many games will the 49ers lose because Ryans failed to adjust?
DraftKings Sportsbook released the betting odds for the Week 1 starter, and Garoppolo is a comfortable favorite to be the Week 1 starter. Below are the odds for the 49ers’ starting quarterback against the Lions.
- Jimmy Garoppolo -278
- Trey Lance +220
- Josh Rosen +3300
- Nate Sudfeld +4000
“I don’t know what I expect,” Shanahan recently told Michael Irvin on the former NFL receiver’s podcast. “I expect [Lance] to be a real good player. I don’t know if it’s going to be this week, next week, or next year, but I expect him to be a real good player, and that’s about where it ends. We’ll see when he proves that he should be out there.
By the time Keena Turner retired from the NFL in 1990, he already knew he wanted to finish his degree and keep a promise to his mother. At the time, Harry Edwards, the noted civil rights activist who has worked as a consultant to the 49ers, had begun a degree completion program for players through the University of San Francisco.
While that allowed Turner to keep his promise, the fact that he hadn’t finished what he started at Purdue gnawed at him. Soon enough, Turner’s wife, Linda, began reminding him how much history he had with the Boilermakers and what it would mean for him to have a diploma from the place where his name still rings out.
The 49ers just drafted Trey Lance third overall, officially starting the countdown clock for how long Jimmy Garoppolo will remain the team’s starter. Lance was considered a somewhat raw prospect due to his limited amount of college experience at North Dakota State, which is why most expect Garoppolo to open the season as the starter. While Garoppolo is the favorite to be under center come Week 1, that doesn’t mean we won’t get to see Lance on the field right away.
The 49ers will try to “sprinkle in Lance the way the Saints have used Taysom Hill in recent seasons,” Matt Barrows of The Athletic believes. Barrows highlights recent comments Kyle Shanahan made on KNBR, when he raved about how Lance’s athleticism could open up the offense.
49ers depth chart: 5 players who won’t be on the roster in Week 1
No. 4: 49ers Wide Receiver Jalen Hurd
There’s a cult-like following among the Niners fanbase for third-year wide receiver Jalen Hurd, and it’s hard to understand why.
Sure, Hurd looked promising enough during his limited appearances in the preseason during his 2019 rookie year. But the third-round draft pick missed all of that year’s regular-season campaign with a serious back injury before suffering a torn ACL that sidelined him for the entirety of 2020.
Yes, San Francisco was banking on Hurd’s sizable 6-foot-3 frame to become a tough, physical presence amid a wide receiver room that was generally on the shorter side of things. But considering Hurd has yet to take a regular-season snap during his NFL career, it’s probably a safe bet to assume the 49ers have run out of patience with his injury history.