Well, I’m sure this had something to do with the drafting of two running backs, but Jeff Wilson ‘recently underwent knee surgery’ for a torn meniscus. Don’t know when the injury happened, or even how, but now he’s out for 4-6 months, so it looks like the rookies just got bumped up a spot in the RB rotation. And whether the team knew about this leads me to think they did due to 2 guys coming off the board for a position we had somewhat covered.
Raheem the dream Mostert better stay healthy as the next guy not a rookie is Wayne Gallman. Then again, seeing Trey Sermon out there would be pretty cool. He’s a bad-ass hard hitting runner who catches passes well. He should be able to fit in pretty quickly, but as they say, we shall see.
Speaking of injuries, Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, and Jalen Hurd are all expected to be ready for camp. Commence the covering them in bubble-wrap till the season starts.
San Francisco 49ers Forever 
That is a bad sign Wilson is a big part of our game. I am looking to see how our new big guys on the OL are gonna do. We just gotta stay healthy.
McGlinchey really needs to bounce back in a big way, IMO. Garoppolo’s health may well depend on it. I fell pretty good about the rest of the line right now.
Tough break for Wilson that stings some, so now Trey Sermon automatically jumps into the number 2 role and I’m excited, I really feel he could be one of the steals of the draft, and Shanny’s mind is going to be working OT in all the different ways he wants to get the ball in his hands..
Agree, Kat. Both him and Mitchell are studs and I think they’ll both turn out to be steals. The nice thing about RB’s is that they can usually step right in and produce in the NFL, unlike other positions, especially if they’re talented like both these guys are.
If Shanny has shown anything it is that he can get productive RBs seemingly from out of thin air. A guy like Sermon should be able to tear it up.
Mostert has to stay healthy.
If Mostert can stay healthy, he may go off behind the revamped OL.
Sorry to hear about Wilson. I really like him as a player and he runs hard and tough. Hopefully he can get back at some point this season, but I’m not holding my breath. I wonder if his injury occurred early enough to explain the Niners drafting the two RB’s. Either way, it’s fortuitous. I think they’ll be fine in that area. They still have the promising Hasty too. With Raheem’s history of injury, they’re probably going to need him and the rookies sooner rather than later.
It was nice to see so many guys showing up for OTA’s. I think the whole team is psyched for the upcoming season, as am I.
I don’t know if guys you saw Eric Branch’s piece on Trey Lance from about a week ago, but it was really good. I was able to access it through the Yahoo sports app, but it shows up behind a pay wall when I try to link it elsewhere. Check it out on SFGate if you haven’t already.
The more I read and learn about this kid, the more excited I get. These kind of picks are always a crapshoot, but Lance has every conceivable quality you could want in a potential franchise QB. Great family, great upbringing, solid character across the board and gobs of natural physical talent. Sure, NDS is a small school, but they run a lot of pro sets and he played a lot under center, which is huge coming out of college. Remember how much trouble Alex Smith had adjusting to that aspect of the game when he came out. Any spread QB, really.
I still say starting JG is the right move, but having Lance there nipping at his heels should really light a fire under his ass, and I don’t think he even needs it. The NFL is the most ruthlessly competitive league in professional sports and this is Garoppolo’s big chance to prove all the naysayers wrong. I expect big things from him this year. He’s a pro and very competitive. He just needs to stay upright.
Anyway, I can’t wait for the start of camp. As usual, these are two of the longest months of the year. Please, please, please stay healthy this year! GO NINERS!
Good stuff, LJ. And yeah, Lance has the things you look for. Quick feet, an accurate arm, speed avoiding the rush, and the ability to get yards on scrambles. Plus you can’t teach his size OR speed. But most of all, it is his brains. He’s smart and quick. There’s a good article today in the Chron regarding Jimmy G and his relationship with Lance. Not like they are best buds or anything, but that they are simply getting to know each other and letting things come naturally.
But really, if Jimmy G gets beat by Lance purely on ability and grasping the offense, then Jimmy G isn’t what we thought he was and we need to make the switch. I really don’t see it happening
One of Lance’s selling points is that he ran a lot of play action in college. Meaning he turns his back to the oncoming rush. Many many college QBs never do that, and it takes (from what I hear) some time to get used to the idea of resetting your field of vision when doing that.
Here’s the article.
Not only will 49ers quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance have each of their passes thoroughly examined over the coming months, their words will be closely parsed as well.
On Tuesday, for example, Garoppolo was asked about Lance, the rookie who was selected with the No. 3 pick to eventually replace him: What were Garoppolo’s impressions of Lance as a player and a person?
“Trey’s been cool. He has,” Garoppolo said. “The whole QB room is really good. It’s a good group of guys. We’re pretty deep this year, (we) brought (Rich Scangarello) back as the QB coach — happy to see him again. It’s a great group we’ve got in there. We’re a tight group. Everyone’s been competing so far. It’s been a lot of fun.”
The official tally: Garoppolo’s 58-word response included five words about Lance.
This isn’t to suggest that Garoppolo-resents-the-rookie drama is brewing. During other parts of his 10minute news conference, Garoppolo said he and Lance “had a great relationship so far” and they’ve “hung out a couple of times” and he termed Lance a “cool dude.” However, here’s a takeaway from Garoppolo’s first meeting with the Bay Area media since early January: His congratulatory draft-night text message to Lance last month might not have necessarily foreshadowed a best-buddy relationship filled with back slaps and bro hugs.
“The whole QB room is really good. It’s a good group of guys. We’re pretty deep this year … Everyone’s been competing so far. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers quarterback
That’s because not even Garoppolo, 29, knows how he’ll connect with the 21-year-old he met for the first time this month. Garoppolo mentioned more than once that he wanted their relationship to evolve naturally.
“I don’t want to do anything out of the ordinary, do something that’s not me,” Garoppolo said. “So I just try to treat it like I normally would with anyone else. I just go about my business, just be myself and let the chips fall as they may. … It’s one of those relationships that it’ll come over time. It just takes a little time.”
During that time, of course, their relationship will include this dynamic: Lance will continue working to take the starting job Garoppolo has had since December 2017. How they compete and relate figures to be the story of the season, and Garoppolo, not surprisingly, made it clear he doesn’t lack for motivation.
This offseason, the 49ers have engaged in trade discussions about Garoppolo and invested four draft picks, including three first-rounders, to draft his replacement. Both head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have said they decided to draft a QB because of Garoppolo’s injury history. He missed a combined 23 games in 2018 and 2020 and the 49ers went 10-22 in those seasons. Garoppolo was asked about the “injury prone” label.
“It kind of comes with the job,” Garoppolo said. “It’s of those things that keeps pushing you, though, when you hear those critiques and you hear those little things out there. It pushes you to take your game to the next level. We’re all competitors out there. We all want to go put in a perfect game. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re trying to do. I’m going to keep pushing myself.”
If Garoppolo, who is less than 16 months from starting in a Super Bowl, can reach another level, it’s quite possible he could keep Lance on the bench in 2020. That may not have been his initial thought when he was initially informed in late March about the 49ers’ decision to trade up nine spots so they could draft a QB third overall. Three days after the deal, Shanahan said he thought “Jimmy was a little pissed off” when he heard the news.
“When it initially happened, there’s a million emotions that go on throughout your head,” Garoppolo said. “And you think of all the possible scenarios and things like that. But at the end of the day, I want to play football. I want to go out there and win games. That’s what I do. It wasn’t anything too crazy. It took a little while to process everything. But once I did, it was just, go out there and ball.”
Given their massive investment, the 49ers certainly wouldn’t mind if Lance is so impressive this season that he earns the starting job. Garoppolo was asked about foiling that plan by having a careerbest season.
“If you start thinking about all of those things, especially as a quarterback, you’re going to be in some trouble,” Garoppolo said. “… It’s one of those things that the situation is what it is. It’s not changing. You just try to make the best of it. The way I do that, I attack each day and just try to put my best foot forward.”
Eric Branch covers the 49ers for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch
If I have shown anything it is that i can choke on the big doad.
I need to stop drooling over a big sausage.
Mama’s calling. Your grilled cheese is ready.
The reality of this QB situation is a little weird as Jimmy isn’t the older vet looking to mentor the kid that will take over his job. Jimmy G has a lot of playing time left. Depending on how this season plays out.
He desperately needs to show THIS team he can play to a very high level. The possibility exists where Jimmy G even gets to play here next season should he take them deep into the playoffs. That being said, a Super Bowl berth may be the only thing keeping Lance on the sidelines.
It would be a spectacular scenario to face should it come to pass. Say Jimmy wins the Super Bowl. I would LOVE to see Lance get 2 years learning from the coaches to really get a handle on the offense.
Then we trade Jimmy G for a couple 1st round picks after the 2022 season.
Hey, it could happen.
Interesting piece and JG is saying exactly what I’d expect him to say based on what we know about him. He’s ultra competitive. Say whatever else you want about him, he is all of that, which is why I think he’s going to step up this year and have a season at least as solid as 2019. It should be fun to watch the whole thing unfold, and with the entire team not just the QB’s. There should be a lot of intense battles to follow. If they can stay healthy, this should be a heck of a good team.
Yep. That’s the hope. Jimmy isn’t a push-over, and he has skin in the game. He’s heard all the talk and all the injury-prone stuff and he wants to prove he can lead the team.
They did improve the line some, and I’m hoping for more help down the line once expensive players get sloughed off.
Turns out Wilson injured his knee talking to reporters in the locker room. He turned nd felt his knee pop and lock up.
Wow.
You’ve got to be kidding me. WTF. If any franchise is due for a healthy season, it’s the 49ers. Even in 2019 they had injuries to key players. Let’s hope 2021 is a clean season.
As much as I love Jeff Wilson, Jr., his loss isn’t massive in the grand scheme of things. They have a good cadre of running backs and it’s a position that’s more easily filled than others. Hoping Jeff can make it back at some point in the season and contribute. I remember him bouncing back pretty quickly from that high ankle sprain last season, and a meniscus is nowhere near as serious an injury as and ACL.
Mack and Banks alone should improve things significantly. McGlinchey continues to be the wild card, imo. He simply cannot have another season where he lets pass rushers blow by him on a regular basis. If he’s solid, the whole line should be pretty good.
We have been hit so hard by injuries ever since this FO has taken over. I love this FO and think it’s the best we have had since the 80’s but I have learned to hold my breath even for our practices. It’s fucking crazy our how our luck has been.
You figure the odds will be in our favor at some point, like this year. Injuries are a huge part of the NFL for every team, but it’s gotten to be comical for the 49ers. Fingers crossed.
I really thought they would go after an RT and move McGlinchey inside. He is a great run blocker, and with help on his outside shoulder, he should be decent as a pass blocker. One thing that annoyed me about Harbaugh was his overreliance on Gore as a pass protector instead of a pass catching option out of the backfield.
I guess they’re just banking on McGlinchey bouncing back from last year’s disaster. That will either work out or bite them in the ass. Since his pass blocking was so bad it’s fair to assume that he has nowhere to go but up. I guess we’ll see. With no real contingency plan in place, it had better work. Tackles on either end of the line are critical positions, especially with an immobile QB like JG. Let’s hope the same thing we hope for JG, playing and competing for his career, works out for McGlinchey as well and motivates him to be his very best. I’m sure he’s been working his butt off this off-season.
This should be a heck of an entertaining season. So much is riding on it, including Shanny and Lynch being viewed as the guys (IMO). Even with the SB year, they’ve had losing seasons 3 out of the 4 years. That has to have them feeling some heat. They’ve also built a strong roster. Let’s see what happens!
If baseball and basketball have shown us anything, it’s that injuries are way up these last two seasons. And it is mainly muscle pulls and the like. Teams need to really get a handle on stretching and basic shit like that. Forego strength training for a while and focus on getting stretched out.
I heard Wilson’s injury was a freak thing in the locker room talking to reporters.He stood up and his meniscus tore according to Lynch..
I was stoked to read that Levi’s will be fully open to fans this year. That will make a huge difference in terms of energy, all over the league. I’m betting we see some seriously good football across the NFL this season.
My bad Chuck I didn’t see your earlier post about Wilson, still a mind boggling freakish injury..
And yes totally on board with LJ as well about the 49ers drafting 2 running backs,Sermon&Mitchell, maybe they looked at the track history of keeping these RB’s healthy.These 2 along with Mostert hopefully staying healthy and Juicy’s great blocking should create a lot of opportunities, I’m excited as hell with this scenario going forward! Hell even Hasty could get some carries are used in passing situations..
Hasty is a quick, shifty back who runs well inside. I think he could be a very useful piece for Shanny this year, but he might not even make the team with the two rookies now in the fold.
THe way we’ve been going through RBs, I think Hasty stays.
IF JG stays health and wins a SB, that would be good for Lance, he just turned 21 yrs old, start him at age 24, you have a franchise QB for a long time.
Yeah, I am wishing Jimmy the very best and I am sure he’s gonna miss at least a game or two so we should see Lance in action. I imagine getting some playing time will help him get his bearings and give him his learning curve for at least a couple of years. That is of course he masters it right away. Then we gotta trade Jimmy to get a pick or two back.
Yeah, that’s my hope. Shit, Rodgers had 4 years on the bench behind Favre? Young had a few years behind Joe, so the idea is not a bad one.
New thread is up.