Analyzing Day 2 of the 49ers Quarterback Competition

The defense responded and made life much more difficult for the two quarterbacks.

Grant Cohn | Jul 29, 2021

Both Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance shredded the 49ers defense on Day 1 of training camp.

Day 2 was much different. On Day 2, the defense responded and made life much more difficult for the two quarterbacks.

Here's how each QB performed.

JIMMY GAROPPOLO

Not a good day for James. He airmailed his first pass attempt of the morning, and finished practice having completed just 4 of 10 throws during 11-on-11 team drills. This is the James I've come to know. The inconsistent, indecisive, innaccurate James. Four of his passes got broken up -- two by Jason Verrett, one by K'Waun Williams and one by Dontae Johnson. Garoppolo is lucky one of those throws didn't get picked. His best throw of 11 on 11s was a 10-yard completion to Deebo Samuel over the middle. Nothing special about that. Garoppolo clearly was the second-best quarterback on the field today.

TREY LANCE

Lance completed 6 of 10 passes during 11 on 11s, but those numbers don't do him justice, because all four of his incompletions were well thrown. First, he fired a pass downfield to Brandon Aiyuk who turned his head late to find the ball. It seemed like Aiyuk gave up on the play and didn't expect to get the ball. Maybe he's too used to playing with Garoppolo, who doesn't attempt those power throws. Next, Lance threw a strike to tight end Josh Pederson, who dropped it. Next, Lance threw a strike to Kevin White, who was running an out route when he slipped and fell face first. Finally, Lance dumped the ball down to Ross Dwelley, who uncharacteristically dropped the pass.

Throughout the practice, Lance showed a quick release and tremendous arm strength. And he still hasn't run once in front of the media this offseason. Which means he's playing the position the way it's supposed to be played, and he's playing it well.

Only a matter of time until he takes Garoppolo's job.

Here's a video of the 49ers quarterbacks warming up on Day 2.

Published Jul 29, 2021

GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.