Report: 49ers plan to 'unleash' rookie QB Trey Lance during training camp

The San Francisco 49ers have been insistent that Trey Lance won’t be starting for them at quarterback in 2021. That’s not stopping them from putting together an aggressive plan for his first training camp.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the 49ers intend to “unleash” Lance during camp after perfecting his mechanics during OTAs. Fowler said on "SportsCenter" Saturday, via Riley Gates of 247Sports:

“I’m told San Fran spent much of the OTAs and minicamp working on Trey Lance’s mechanics, making sure things were compact. And the reason is they wanted to get that down so that in training camp they can unleash the full arsenal. They can show him off as a runner. They don’t want to put him in harm’s way and have him take too many hits. But they love the dimension he can bring to (head coach) Kyle Shanahan’s attack because they couldn’t do it with Jimmy Garoppolo. They could do it with Lance as a runner and a passer.”

It’s worth noting that the 49ers simply won’t refuse to shut the door on Lance starting. It sounds like they’re going to put him through a rigorous test to see how ready he is for the starting job. They have Jimmy Garoppolo if they decide to go that route, but the future clearly belongs to Lance here.