George Kittle banging the drum loudly for Trey Lance

George Kittle has rave reviews about San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance.

The San Francisco 49ers could be in the midst of a quarterbacking change, but that does not seem to bother tight end George Kittle in the slightest, who thinks Trey Lance is an absolute … DOG!

Kittle appeared on The Pat McAfee Show Friday to promote Tight End U. Though he has had great success catching passes from Jimmy Garoppolo, Kittle understands the NFL is a business. When the 49ers traded three first-round picks on the Walter Payton Award-winning quarterback out of North Dakota State, the writing was on the wall for Garoppolo leading the 49ers in the long run.

The good news is Kittle has seen what Lance can do in practice, so he is a big believer in what the 49ers have in their quarterback room.

“Once Trey Lance gets a lot of reps just watch out because some of the things I’ve seen him do in practice mind-boggle me,” said Kittle about Lance on Friday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show.

San Francisco 49ers: George Kittle is a big believer in Trey Lance becoming a star

So much pressure is riding on Lance to be a success for the 49ers. Once Garoppolo is healthy enough, he will almost certainly be traded this offseason. Again, San Francisco did not trade three first-round picks because Kyle Shanahan liked “Five Guys around 3.” Lance had the highest upside of any passer in the draft not named Trevor Lawrence. Undeniably raw, but so much potential…

Backing up what Kittle is saying, he trusts the culture the 49ers have in place to give Lance the best chance at success. If the 49ers have to run the ball 35 times a game in a Shanahan zone-blocking scheme fever dream, Kittle will be all about that. He did play for Kirk Ferentz at Iowa after all. How the 49ers adapt under center this season will decide if they are Super Bowl viable or not.

See, the 49ers have shown they can not only get to but win playoff games with Garoppolo under center. The issue has been beating a player more talented at the position than him (i.e., Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford). The hope is Lance can take his game up to a top-tier level, whereas Garoppolo could only get them so far. He is so much better than Alex Smith and Jared Goff, though.

If George Kittle is all board the Trey Lance hype train, then we better listen to the All-Pro tight end.