Typically when a team loses their starting quarterback in Week 2 it means their season is over. The 49ers have experienced this a couple times in the Kyle Shanahan era, which is part of the reason they kept Jimmy Garoppolo in the building even as they turned the keys to the offense over to Trey Lance. Keeping Garoppolo helped the 49ers secure a win over the Seahawks, and pushed San Francisco back up to No. 11 in the USA TODAY Week 3 power rankings.
The Lance injury is a two-pronged issue. There are long-term ramifications that could warp his overall development as his timeline gets pushed back yet another year. The ripple effects from that and the severity of his step backward won’t be all the way known until 2024 or 2025. We can put a pin in that prong for now, although the conversation about Lance’s usage will likely rage for the entirety of his 49ers tenure.
The second prong is strictly about the 2022 season. Garoppolo may limit the 49ers’ offensive ceiling some, but he erases a lot of the unknown that caused so much trepidation about San Francisco’s chances with Lance. Perhaps Lance would’ve ultimately raised the team’s ceiling after his first full season of playing in NFL games. The answer to that question is on hold for now, and instead the 49ers are left with a QB who was under center for two NFC championship game trips in three seasons.
Having that kind of insurance is why the 49ers actually saw a bump up in the USA TODAY power rankings. How high they climb remains to be determined, but San Francisco isn’t in bad shape for 2022.
