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Can Jimmy Garoppolo keep his starting job, or will Trey Lance take over for the 49ers? | You Pod to Win the Game?

Yahoo Sports’ Senior NFL Writers Charles Robinson and Frank Schwab continue our 2021 NFL Camp Tour with the San Francisco 49ers. Charles visited the Niners and watched the quarterback battle between Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance. Charles shares his insights on how he thinks this highly anticipated contest will play out. Hear the full conversation on the You Pod to Win the Game podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

FRANK SCHWAB: If you don't mind, I want to talk about San Francisco, too, because that's a team I really-- I'm high on them. I'm really high on them, because I trust Kyle. And I just wipe out 2020 for them. They had like 33% more injuries than everybody else NFL. Like, it was unbelievable how they-- it's unbelievable Kyle got them to six wins, really, when you look at what they were dealing with.

I think at some point, Trey Lance takes over and just becomes a dynamic force in that offense. I really do. I know I shouldn't be buying into a rookie quarterback, but his skill set just fits so well with what Kyle wants to do, I think. I like this team a ton. I think that they're going to win the West. I think they're a Super Bowl contender again, and that's even with a rookie quarterback, 'cause he fits so well.

CHARLES ROBINSON: You know, I wasn't there. Day one of camp, they both were really good. They were really sharp, you know. So I showed up, I'm like, OK, these guys were hot day one, let me see what they look like day two. Day two, there were some overthrown balls, there were some balls thrown that sailed out of bounds, there was stuff thrown into coverage, some sharp passes. Sometimes I'd look at Jimmy Garoppolo and go "oh, yeah, OK, I see it. Like, Jimmy's definitely-- you know, he's really efficient. He's going downfield not deep, but I mean, he's letting things progress a little bit further in terms of routes, and he's trying to get the ball at least a little further downfield."

Lance, what was interesting was I go the whole practice watching him. And I thought "he's good. I see the toolset, I understand, I get this." And then the whole time I was watching Lance in the backfield, and I'm like watching him navigate the pass rush. And then all of a sudden, he just sets up and, I mean, it was frozen. Like, he just hit Aiyuk about 25 yards downfield, hammered it in, and literally right then I said to my-- like, nobody else standing around me, I said to myself, "OK, that's why you drafted this kid." It was literally one those moments on the practice field where you're like, "whoa."

FRANK SCHWAB: So what week does he start? Give me a week.

CHARLES ROBINSON: I don't know, man. I talked to Kyle extensively, and Kyle keeps going over and over again about how he feels like this kicked Jimmy Garoppolo in the rear. Like, he was like "Jimmy stepped it up this offseason." Remember, he's still a trade commodity. They can still trade him after the season. They can still trade him at the end of the preseason. They can still trade him at the trade deadline.

And I think Kyle doesn't want to give Jimmy away for nothing. Kyle's headed straight up. He's like "I've had a couple of years where I put all my quarterback eggs in one basket, and it did not work out." And he's like, "I kind of like having them divide it up into two baskets now. I kind of like the idea that I actually like two of my quarterbacks, and if one of these guys gets hurt or goes down, I'm more than happy to be able to swing to the other guy."

FRANK SCHWAB: At the end of the day, I mean you're driving around a Honda Civic. And it's fine, it gets you from place to place. But you've got a Ferrari in the garage. What are you going to do? Are you seriously just going to-- yeah, you can drive around that Civic, gets good gas mileage. You know, it's really cool.

CHARLES ROBINSON: That's the most expensive Honda Civic ever.

FRANK SCHWAB: I just-- man, Trey, I think he's going to have one of those RG3, Andrew Luck Justin Herbert-type rookie seasons, where we're looking and going, "wow, this kid is--" Just because-- it's not even necessarily him, it's the situation. But once you draft Trey Lance, it's over. Like, the clock's ticking. You can't just stick with Jimmy at that point. To me, it doesn't make any sense.

Quarterbacks don't sit anymore it's a myth. It's something that was from this bygone era of Carson Palmer 20 years ago, when we didn't even have HDTV.

CHARLES ROBINSON: It's true. But remember, the Chiefs did get value on Alex. You know, they did find a way to not start Patrick Mahomes. And remember, in year two, when we watched Mahomes, we were like "how the hell did they go this whole first season and not start this guy? Like, what, seriously? This is--" How on Earth were you watching this in practice and going, "yeah, we're going to go ahead Alex Smith run the team."

FRANK SCHWAB: Who's to say that they wouldn't have won a Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes as a rookie? He's that good that we can say that. Alex was just good, but--

CHARLES ROBINSON: Trey Lance isn't Patrick Mahomes, OK?