Prior to the opening of training camp, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made it known there was no open quarterback competition.
With the onset of the regular season drawing near, however, Shanahan isn’t offering up that same clarity as it relates to the starting quarterback spot.
Shanahan would not reveal whether veteran Jimmy Garoppolo or first-round rookie Trey Lance would start in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions, but admitted he has an inkling of who it will be.
"I've got a pretty good idea, but as you guys can see with everything, I don't know our schedule a couple days from now," Shanahan said, via the team transcript. "So, I've always had a pretty good idea. But, there's lots of days between now and then, at every position."
Speaking to the media after his coach, Garoppolo was asked if he too had a pretty good idea and, surely enough, he did.
"Yeah, I have a pretty good idea," Garoppolo said.
Garoppolo unveiled a tad bit more, adding he's pleased with his grasp of the 49ers' offense currently and how he's performed.
"It's whatever [Shanahan] decides, yeah. I have a pretty good idea," Garoppolo said. "I'm pretty happy with where I'm at right now and everything and just the offense as a whole. Yeah, Kyle's the head man. He'll make the call."
Lance's big arm and athleticism have been showcased in the preseason and amplified the excitement to see him take the starting reins. Garoppolo's time leading San Francisco is clearly ticking down, but he navigated the team's Super Bowl run just two seasons ago and offers more certainty at signal-caller.
Who will it be that leads the 49ers into 2021? Well, Shanahan might well have already made up his mind, but he sees no advantage in letting his starter out of the bag at this point.
"I look at it more as what do you gain by naming it?" he said. "If there would be one reason I can think of by naming it that would help it'd be to end those questions. If you could give me another reason that it's a big advantage that helps our team, affects anything that has to do with us then I will name it. But I don't think it does. And you know, why tell people? I know you guys want an answer, which is fine. I get the suspense of it, but I'm not just going to answer it to end your guys' suspense."
