49ers: When should Kyle Shanahan turn to Trey Lance full-time?

The San Francisco 49ers have a huge question that needs to be answered — when will the team bench quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for Trey Lance?

The San Francisco 49ers made the biggest move of the NFL Draft by trading up from the 12th-overall pick to the Miami Dolphins’ No. 3 spot. With that selection, the 49ers did their due diligence on the top quarterback prospects in the class and ultimately decided on taking North Dakota State’s Trey Lance.

With that, Jimmy Garoppolo is under the proverbial microscope by the fanbase on a weekly basis. If he fails to do anything on offense, then there will be plenty of voices calling for head coach Kyle Shanahan to bench Garoppolo in favor of Lance. But when should he make the switch full-time?

When should Kyle Shanahan name Trey Lance the full-time starter for 49ers?

The answer to that question is pretty simple — it is whenever Shanahan feels that Lance is ready to take over the reins of San Francisco’s offense. If Lance is performing well in practices and is getting a good enough grasp of the offensive scheme, then the head coach could feel inclined to pull the trigger on the move sooner rather than later.

However, if Garoppolo is still playing up to par and leading the team to wins, why would Shanahan make the switch?  That would not necessarily make sense.

But, you have to take into account that the 49ers are in a tough NFC West division, with the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals undefeated through the first three weeks of the season. Yet, San Francisco can still make the playoffs with one of the three Wild Card spots in the conference. If you look at the team’s schedule, there are some winnable games in the second-half against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans. That could play a role in the quarterback situation, especially if Shanahan feels Lance can help the 49ers take those victories.

All we can really say is to stay tuned as the season progresses. Eventually, you will receive the answer as to when the 49ers will name Lance the starting signal caller.