Steve Young: We are going to witness Trey Lance’s growth

Former 49ers quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Steve Young joined the TKB Show on KNBR Wednesday afternoon, discussing Jimmy Garoppolo’s tenure in San Francisco, the type of quarterback that should be behind Trey Lance in 2022 and Kyle Shanahan’s view of his offense.

“Jimmy walked into a very difficult position,” Young said of Garoppolo’s time with the 49ers. “He joined the team when they needed a quarterback to make some throws and they didn’t have that. Jimmy can make throws, he’s a starting quarterback in the NFL. How far he could go was limited by the trust between he and Kyle Shanahan never completely getting established.”

With Garoppolo on his way out, Lance would be the only quarterback currently on the roster coming back. So, who does Young think the 49ers should put around the young signal caller?

“I think Trey’s going to be so raw,” Young said of Lance. “We’re going to witness his growth. Who is going to do the growth?”

“I’m a big fan of putting someone around you who can push you,” he continued. “So, I’m not looking to not do that. But more than anything, he needs someone older who can tell him ‘this matters’ or ‘this doesn’t matter.’ … Teach him how to study. How to memorize. How to be reflective recall. So that everything that comes out of him is reflective, and he doesn’t have to think about it.”

“Mike Shanahan, Kyle’s dad, it was driven into you … the data. We need an older guy that can show him in the meeting room and then watch the film every week and go, ‘Trey this does not work,’ or, ‘This is what we need to build on.’ He needs somebody to go tell him all of this stuff, because he’s going to need it.”

Young believes Kyle Shanahan wants to be more expansive with his offense moving forward and the 49ers have the talent to pull it off, which should also help Lance.

“Kyle’s primary goal is not to only be the best running team in the league. I fully believe they can be the best running team in the league and the best passing team,” said Young. “San Francisco has the roster to go do that. I think they have the play caller to go do that.”

“You’ve got a top five offensive line when healthy. Deebo Samuel, I don’t know who else you want to talk about that is a better player. George Kittle, would you trade him for Travis Kelce? I would not. I think he’s a supreme player. Brandon Aiyuk is a guy that I’d love to go play with and be around and throw the ball to. There’s not a better situation out there.”

“Quarterbacking is the ultimate game of … yeah you need to do a lot of it … but you need to have a lot of help, or you have no chance. If I had to choose a place to go play as a quarterback, San Francisco is number one.”