‘It took two guys being humble’: 49ers can follow Chiefs’ blueprint with Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance – NFL Nation

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Just a number of days into the San Francisco 49ers‘ 2021 coaching camp, lots of the adjectives used to explain their quarterback scenario have taken a synonymous tone: distinctive, unusual, bizarre.

But there’s one phrase that is been unanimously rejected by the two quarterbacks — Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance — on the heart of it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about ‘awkwardness,'” Garoppolo stated, smiling.

“No, there’s no awkwardness at all,” Lance stated.

If there was, it might be comprehensible.

Garoppolo is the incumbent starter with a Super Bowl look below his belt and a $26.4 million cap cost in 2021. Lance is the No. 3 total decide within the 2021 NFL draft, the hand-chosen alternative of coach Kyle Shanahan and common supervisor John Lynch to switch Garoppolo at a date to be decided.

For as uncommon as their scenario is perhaps, there may be truly a comparatively current blueprint for the Niners to follow if they’re going to make their two-quarterback scenario work.

It’s one Shanahan talked about way back to December as the kind of superb mannequin for any group making an attempt to steadiness contending with a veteran starter whereas getting ready a proficient rookie to ultimately take over: the 2017 Kansas City Chiefs.

Those Chiefs had gone 41-20 with Alex Smith because the starter within the earlier 4 seasons, however failing to win a Super Bowl had coach Andy Reid looking for a protracted-time period reply to get them over the hump.

At the 2017 NFL draft, the Chiefs dealt their first-spherical decide (No. 27), a 3rd-spherical alternative and a primary-spherical choice in 2018 to the Buffalo Bills for the tenth decide, which they used on Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“That’s the most obvious example of having a really good quarterback and drafting a young guy and still having a success that year with a veteran and moving on the next year,” Shanahan stated the night time the Niners drafted Lance.

Alex Smith began 15 video games the next season, yielding to Mahomes in a meaningless common-season finale with a playoff spot decided. This 12 months within the Bay Area, Garoppolo stays the unquestioned starter with Lance the backup. At least for now. The problem, ought to the Niners decide to follow Kansas City’s lead, will likely be making that final the season with out a looming quarterback query turning into detrimental.

Alex Smith: Communication key

By the time Smith arrived in Kansas City through commerce in 2013, he had already been by means of loads of challenges to his job. In truth, he was a Chief as a result of the 49ers had drafted his alternative, Colin Kaepernick, within the second spherical of the 2011 draft and Kaepernick had performed nicely sufficient to take the job and by no means look again when Smith suffered a concussion in 2012.

That expertise formed how Smith would react when the Chiefs made their transfer for Mahomes. The one factor Smith coveted most? Communication.

Entering his thirteenth 12 months within the league, Smith had come to grips with the thought he was nearer to the top than the start, so he knew his alternative could be on the best way before later.

But Smith had additionally earned the correct to listen to from his coaches when that alternative could be arriving. Former Niners coach Jim Harbaugh advised Smith that Kaepernick was going to be picked earlier than that draft and Smith appreciated the heads up.

“I wasn’t caught off guard,” Smith stated. “I knew the deal. And I think that helps. … You look at what’s going on elsewhere in some quarterback rooms and some things didn’t get handled the right way. So, I think that comes down to the personal level and the leadership and making sure that everybody is on the same page, there’s open lines of communication and you have healthy competition. And I think when you have that, it can actually become such a positive thing for the whole team.”

When the Chiefs determined to take Mahomes, the method was the identical. Reid and then-offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, who now coaches the Chicago Bears, knowledgeable Smith of their plan to take Mahomes.

They additionally let Smith know they wished him to stay in Kansas City and proceed because the starter till Mahomes was able to play.

“You just have got to have a good plan,” Nagy stated. “That takes communication, just talking through it and making sure everybody understands what it is. You don’t hide anything. You’re open with it. And I think that’s what all the teams are probably going to do in these situations. That’s what we did.”

The Chiefs additionally took care to make sure Mahomes had the kind of affected person however aggressive persona that may permit him to slot in and push Smith with out making waves.

Upon arrival, Mahomes and Smith started constructing a relationship organically. Neither participant pressured something however they put themselves in aggressive conditions as typically as attainable. The concept was to foster a enjoyable ambiance that may result in pure battles on the sphere however with any form of overzealous parts already faraway from the connection.

Mahomes, in the meantime, absorbed all Smith was prepared to point out him, from how you can watch movie to how you can deal with the huddle. In coaching camp, Smith labored solely with the highest offense whereas Mahomes obtained his reps with the second string.

“I don’t care what it was, we competed every single day and we’d keep score and that was just kind of the way it went,” Smith stated. “I do go back to being able to have healthy competition, to leave it all out there and then still be good teammates with that. I look back at it and it was so much fun.”

While the connection between Mahomes and Smith developed shortly, there was one other enormous piece of the puzzle that needed to fall into place.

‘It took two guys being humble’

One of the quickest methods to fracture a locker room is to have a quarterback competitors that morphs right into a quarterback controversy.

Hall of Fame 49ers quarterback Steve Young has seen that up shut and wonders how the Niners will go about dealing with it given the locker room’s affinity for Garoppolo.

“Jimmy has the locker room, which is part of the issue,” Young stated. “That locker room, with a new guy coming in and how they feel about Jimmy, John and Kyle have spoken how they feel. It’s a complicated situation.”

When the Chiefs made the transfer up for Mahomes, tight finish Travis Kelce had been with Smith for all 4 of his seasons. The duo was hitting its stride when the commerce for Mahomes occurred.

“I had to check myself initially because I’m such an Alex Smith fan and he was my guy,” Kelce stated. “That’s my brother…I was a little shocked but I had to reel it back.”

For Kelce, it was a matter of taking a second to grasp what the Chiefs have been making an attempt to do, touching base with Mahomes to see what he was bringing to the desk and, finally, following Smith’s lead.

With Smith embracing Mahomes, Kelce adopted go well with and so did the locker room. There was no magic potion to make it occur. It was a matter of attending to know each other and understanding competitors can make everybody higher if channeled correctly.

“It took two guys being humble and being willing to work with each other,” Kelce stated. “It was a very unique scenario. You don’t always get that in the quarterback room, let alone in the NFL, so they were very humble and on top of that they’re great dudes and great competitors. They pushed each other and raised the bar for all of us.”

Lessons realized

The 2017 Chiefs completed 10-6 and gained the AFC West on their technique to the No. 4 seed within the AFC. Like seasons earlier than it, that 12 months got here to a disappointing finish with a loss of their first playoff recreation.

But all events gained lots alongside the best way.

Smith had his greatest NFL season, main the league in passer ranking (104.7) with 26 landing passes and 5 interceptions. In doing so, he pushed his commerce worth excessive sufficient that the Washington Football Team dealt a 3rd-spherical decide and cornerback Kendall Fuller for him.

Soon after the commerce, Smith signed a 4-12 months, $94 million contract extension.

“Competition brings out the best in people so to say that it didn’t have an effect on me is probably naïve,” Smith stated. “Not a coincidence at all.”

Mahomes, in the meantime didn’t play the primary 15 video games however stepped in to begin the season finale towards the Denver Broncos. He went 22-of-35 for 284 yards with an interception in a 27-24 victory.

The following season, Mahomes took over because the starter and, inside two years, gained MVP and led the Chiefs to a win in Super Bowl LIV towards, coincidentally, the 49ers.

“I learned a ton from Alex Smith,” Mahomes stated on Super Bowl media night time in 2020. “I attribute a lot of my success, especially so early in my career to him. The way he was able to go about it, being a professional, going out there and having the great year that he had my first year and just seeing how he went about every single day and how to game plan and how to recognize coverages. He didn’t hold anything back from me.”

Whether the Chiefs would have gone additional had Mahomes taken the reins sooner is a query that can by no means have a solution.

Per week into coaching camp, the Niners are holding Garoppolo with the starters and Lance with the backups even because the rookie has impressed. Whether the 49ers follow Kansas City’s mannequin will solely be decided by a mixture of time, Garoppolo’s well being and manufacturing and Lance’s growth.

Regardless, for so long as Garoppolo and Lance stay on the roster collectively, it might serve the 49ers nicely to create a Chiefs-like ambiance for all concerned. And if the Niners do stroll the identical path the Chiefs did in 2017, they’d virtually definitely join an analogous end result, albeit one with extra postseason success.

“We’ll never know what the other side of the story is,” Kelce stated. “But they approached it the right way. … And Alex knew all along that Pat was there and eventually the keys would be handed over to him. It was such a cool experience to be a part of.”