10-05-2022, 05:23 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-05-2022, 05:24 AM by OutsiderFan.)
In all four games the Niners have played so far, they have lost a starter for at least a month.
Week 1: Elijah Mitchell 2 months MCL
Week 2: Trey Lance - Season ankle
Week 3: Trent Williams - Month+ ankle; Azeez Al Shaair - 2 months MCL
Week 4: Colton McKivitz - 2 months MCL
This simply is not sustainable. Thankfully, most of the injuries are on Offense, allowing the best Defense in the NFL to stay intact for now, but the injuries have absolutely hurt the Offense and put a heavy load on the Defense to carry. As it stands, the Niners can't win a game they allow more than 10 points. Not a recipe for success and a great way to waste a dominant Defense.
Steve Young said not to judge Garoppolo quite yet due to missing OTAs and Training camp. And he was better against the Rams than the Broncos, but still not great according to Colin Cowherd, who basically said with a better than average QB performance, the Niners beat the Rams 31-9 without the Defense scoring a TD.
I know it's unpopular, but I now strongly believe it was a mistake to bring back Garoppolo. Kyle Shanahan had the perfect situation to drop an inexperienced QB into, with a dominant Defense. Let him learn on the job playing him like a modern NFL QB. Instead, he was scared Lance might struggle - rather than appreciating that is part of his growth - and put him in harm's way as a glorified RB that was lost for the season when it was critical for him to play this year given how little he has played since High School.
We'll never know how good Lance would be as the season wore on this year, but the reality is the roster is one of the best in the NFL when intact, and the QB is a major weak link on the team. It might have been so with Lance, but at least he will be in an improvement trajectory. Garoppolo isn't going to get appreciably better than he is, and having him limits the Offense too much to be a realistic Super Bowl contender IMO.
Trading 3 first round picks to get Lance was stupid if this is how you are going to develop him.
Week 1: Elijah Mitchell 2 months MCL
Week 2: Trey Lance - Season ankle
Week 3: Trent Williams - Month+ ankle; Azeez Al Shaair - 2 months MCL
Week 4: Colton McKivitz - 2 months MCL
This simply is not sustainable. Thankfully, most of the injuries are on Offense, allowing the best Defense in the NFL to stay intact for now, but the injuries have absolutely hurt the Offense and put a heavy load on the Defense to carry. As it stands, the Niners can't win a game they allow more than 10 points. Not a recipe for success and a great way to waste a dominant Defense.
Steve Young said not to judge Garoppolo quite yet due to missing OTAs and Training camp. And he was better against the Rams than the Broncos, but still not great according to Colin Cowherd, who basically said with a better than average QB performance, the Niners beat the Rams 31-9 without the Defense scoring a TD.
I know it's unpopular, but I now strongly believe it was a mistake to bring back Garoppolo. Kyle Shanahan had the perfect situation to drop an inexperienced QB into, with a dominant Defense. Let him learn on the job playing him like a modern NFL QB. Instead, he was scared Lance might struggle - rather than appreciating that is part of his growth - and put him in harm's way as a glorified RB that was lost for the season when it was critical for him to play this year given how little he has played since High School.
We'll never know how good Lance would be as the season wore on this year, but the reality is the roster is one of the best in the NFL when intact, and the QB is a major weak link on the team. It might have been so with Lance, but at least he will be in an improvement trajectory. Garoppolo isn't going to get appreciably better than he is, and having him limits the Offense too much to be a realistic Super Bowl contender IMO.
Trading 3 first round picks to get Lance was stupid if this is how you are going to develop him.