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Jimmy Garoppolo vs. Trey Lance

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has said throughout the offseason after selecting rookie QB Trey Lance 3rd overall in the 2021 rookie draft, that Lance will have a “tough time” becoming the starter this year. But is that just coach-speak for “he’ll be starting after a few regular season games”?

Well, let’s take a look at the details here: Garoppolo was the QB just two seasons ago when the surging 49ers made it all the way to the Super Bowl to lose to the Chiefs 31-20. Lance, on the other hand, has been flashing some highlights in practice and impressed the world with an 80-yard touchdown play to wide receiver Trent Sherfield in this past weekend’s preseason game.

That said, news from the 49ers beat reporters has remained consistent: Trey Lance continues to show his upside in loose practices, but Garoppolo is far better at situational football. It’s important to remember that when you’re constantly blowing out teams (like Lance generally enjoyed in college at North Dakota State), you don’t get a ton of real world practice in high-pressure, two-minute drill, game-winning, come-from-behind types of situations.

Garoppolo will make over $24 Million over the 2021 NFL season and provide the 49ers with a stable, veteran structure to make it to the postseason and compete for another Super Bowl with a win-now stable of talent.

The 49ers traded up to get Lance in this year’s draft - trading 3 first round picks and leaving them without a first round selection until 2024. But Garoppolo is playing for his life and a future home in another NFL city. My money is on Jimmy G retaining the job this year, barring injury. Trey Lance’s era in San Francisco most likely begins in 2022.

Cam Newton vs. Mac Jones

When asked about whether he was going to start Week 1 for the Patriots at a press conference this past Monday, Cam Newton said: “Y’all sitting up here asking silly questions to me and I’m looking at y’all with the same thing. I don’t know what y’all want me to say…You know, you know that. You know he hasn’t said that, so for you to just ask the question, it is what it is.”

It’s clear that the QB1 spot for the Pats is still up in the air with the team drafting Mac Jones as the 15th overall pick this year and Cam Newton’s less-than-stellar performance at the position last season. Stats after the first preseason game? Newton went 4-7 for 49 yards while Jones went 13-19 for 87 yards. Admittedly Jones had more playing time.

Yesterday’s scrimmage session with the Eagles resulted in good numbers from both of them, with Newton going 13-15 and Jones going 13-14 on the day. Notably, the Eagles kept calling Cam the ‘Checkdown King’. We have a lot of preseason football to go and plenty of Patriots fans are calling for Jones to get the nod in Week 1, but if we look at Belichick historically it’s much more likely that Cam will be the one lining up to start on September 12th against the Dolphins.

Belichick and the Pats in general tend to favor the more experienced players unless the competition is head & shoulders above them. Interestingly, there are reports out of camp of Newton/Jones being slotted in for quick plays inside of each others’ series so there may be some extra trickery at foot. This one is still anyone’s game based on preseason performance.

At the beginning of August, Carson Wentz had surgery on what Colts’ coach Frank Reich said was an ‘old injury’ where a broken bone came loose in Wentz’s left foot. Yeouch. At that time a timetable of 5-12 weeks for his full recovery was offered to the press. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen both Jacob Eason (a fourth round pick in 2020) and Sam Ehlinger (a sixth round pick in 2021) sharing first-team reps in practice and both had a chance to showcase their talents in the Colts’ first preseason game against the Panthers this past Sunday.

Both QBs showed promise and ability in the win against Carolina, throwing for a combined 338 yards passing but no TDs in a game where most of the points were from field goals. Eason had a fumble that looked preventable and Ehlinger threw an interception directly into coverage, so neither QB had a stunning performance to start out the season. Thankfully for the Colts, this may be a short-lived controversy as Wentz is already back at practice without a boot. Quenton Nelson as well, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

I think the tea leaves are predicting that Wentz will start week 1 for the Colts, which definitely returns some value to the rest of the offensive starters in Indianapolis. This one is a sigh of relief. But will Wentz’s previous inconsistencies disappear after moving from the East Coast to the Midwest? That remains to be seen.

Fantasy Football is here and drafts are either already going on or just around the corner. Here at drinkfive, we're updating our rankings, watching all the preseason film we can get our hands on, and kicking the Fantasy Finish Line podcast into high gear.

On this episode of the Fantasy Finish Line podcast - your hosts Jason Evans and David Biggs are talking about active QB controversies and training camp battles leading into the 2021 season that will affect the fortunes of quite a few fantasy footballers. Stay on top of the latest news and analysis by listening to the show!

This video/podcast will go live at 9pm CT on Wednesday, August 18, 2021 - it will also be available on all major podcast channels and remain available on YouTube for later review and comments. Join us live and add your comments/questions to the show!

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- Various original music by David Biggs

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Rankings Last Updated: 9/3/21

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