In April, the 49ers made one of the biggest trades in franchise history, moving up to third overall and drafting Trey Lance. Then, they went out of their way to keep Jimmy Garoppolo on the roster hoping that the veteran quarterback could help the team make another deep playoff run. So, with essentially a do-or-die game in Week 18, today’s Oh, Hey There! podcast asks a simple question: Is this season a failure if the 49ers miss the playoffs?
“If you miss the playoffs, and you didn’t develop your quarterback, it’s a wasted season,” host Javier Vega said, “You went 9-8 and, you don’t get in, with these last two final starts where Trey Lance looks good, and the fan base is questioning, ‘Why didn’t you just play him earlier? Why didn’t we rip this band-aid off earlier?’ Did Jimmy Garoppolo have some good games in between? Absolutely. But that’s a lame-duck quarterback when you have your future sitting right there.”
It’s pretty clear at this point that the 49ers thought sticking with Jimmy Garoppolo would help them be a hell of a lot better than 9-7 at this point in the year. If they didn’t think that and assumed they’d be fighting for their playoff lives anyway, they would have played Lance from the jump to begin his development. That obviously hasn’t happened.
Making the playoffs allows them to argue that sticking with the veteran quarterback gave the team their best chance to win and allowed Lance to develop enough to be able to contribute late in the season when the starter got hurt.
However, missing the playoffs and only getting your team’s future quarterback three games (at most) of NFL experience can only be viewed as a less than ideal outcome.
What do you think? Is 2021 a lost year if the 49ers can’t find a way into the postseason? Vote in our poll and comment below.
Poll
Is this season a failure if the 49ers miss the playoffs?
This poll is closed
-
63%
Yes
(1503 votes) -
16%
No
(384 votes) -
20%
Not if Lance starts this week and looks good
(486 votes)
You can hear the entire conversation in today’s Oh, Hey There! podcast with Javier Vega and Leo Luna.
Other topics in today’s episode
- What Trey Lance needs to improve on going forward
- Who flashed against Houston besides the quarterback?
- When will Jaquiski Tartt get the love he deserves?
- Which QB should start this week?
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