Many in the 49ers’ press corps were tweeting out what Kyle Shanahan said yesterday about the team’s quarterback situation - or at least some of what he said:
There is no QB competition, Kyle Shanahan said. Jimmy Garoppolo will take the starter’s reps in practices.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) July 27, 2021
Jimmy Garoppolo is the starter - there is no open competition for #49ers starting QB role. - per Kyle Shanahan
— Jennifer Lee Chan (@jenniferleechan) July 27, 2021
Kyle Shanahan says Jimmy Garoppolo is best QB in the building at the moment.
— Eric Branch (@Eric_Branch) July 27, 2021
"There's no open competition right now," he said. #49ers
While that is part of what Shanahan said, it leaves off important context. So here’s the full quote, as transcribed by the 49ers themselves:
“Jimmy, going through OTAs, what he’s done, he’s our best quarterback in the building right now. So, he’ll start out training camp that way. And we’ve got three other guys behind him. Now we’re going to give Trey the first chance, obviously, as the backup. And anytime a guy is playing a lot better than the guy in front of them is when you start to split reps up with that team and start to talk about it. Trey has had seven practices with us. And I haven’t seen him for 40 days, so I’m not thinking about that right now. Just having Jimmy going, he’s our starter. And we’re going to give all those guys every opportunity to improve. And if someone ever looks like they give us a better chance to win, we’ll make that decision.”
So, it’s not a competition? It’s Jimmy is the starter. He’ll take starter reps and then mix the other guys in as you normally would?
KS: “Yes. Yeah. There’s no open competition right now in terms of they’re getting equal reps with the same group. Jimmy’s coming in as the one and Trey’s coming in as the two.”
As I said in today’s Stats & Eggs podcast, there are some pretty important phrases in there that are worth noting. For example, whenever a coach goes out of his way to use the words “right now,” that should throw up a red flag to anyone listening.
Also, Shanahan pointed out that Trey has only had seven practices with the team, and, “If someone ever looks like they give us a better chance to win, we’ll make that decision.”
That’s very different than Kyle Shanahan simply saying that Jimmy Garoppolo is the starting quarterback, which, as you know, he very easily could have done.
More topics in today’s episode
- John Lynch’s comments on Trey Lance being unsigned
- Health updates on Jaquiski Tartt, Nick Bosa, Jalen Hurd, and Emmanuel Moseley