Instant Analysis of the QB Competition during Week 1 of OTAs

Let the competition begin.

Grant Cohn | May 23, 2023

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San Francisco 49ers

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers just wrapped up OTAs. Here's what the quarterbacks did. Keep in mind, this practice was voluntary, players did not wear pads and mostly competed in 7-on-7 drills instead of full-team 11-on-11s.

TREY LANCE

Took all the first-team reps and completed 12 of 17 passes. Mostly threw short passes, which had given him trouble in the past. Today, he threw them on time and in stride, which is a good sign. You can clearly tell Lance has been tweaking his throwing mechanics all offseason. He doesn't seem to lock his front leg before he releases the ball anymore, which is a big step for him -- he's becoming more of a full-body thrower and less of an arm thrower. His worst play of the afternoon was a checkdown he threw blindly to his left that almost got intercepted by linebacker Curtis Robinson. That pass was a bad decision.

SAM DARNOLD

Took all the second-team reps and completed 11 of 15 passes. Despite those numbers, Darnold struggled with ball placement, as he repeatedly threw passes behind his intended receivers -- not good for an offense that's built on yards after the catch. On one play, Brayden Willis had to reach back and make a one-handed catch on a pass over the middle from Darnold. Darnold also had Danny Gray open deep down the left sideline, but underthrew the pass and allowed the cornerback to recover and break up the throw. In addition, Darnold also fumbled a snap during 11-on-11s, which is something he has done quite a bit during real games. This was the first time I've seen Darnold practice in person, and he did not exude much confidence, but it's early in his tenure with the 49ers. He could improve.

BRANDON ALLEN

Took all the third-team reps and completed 7 of 7 pass attempts. Also was the most aggressive quarterback throwing down the field. Of course, it helped that he was facing mostly rookies.

VERDICT: The winner today goes to Lance, because he was more accurate and decisive than Darnold, plus Darnold fumbled once.

Stay tuned for the good and not so good from practice.

Published May 23, 2023

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.