There have been many takes on the quarterback drama surrounding the San Francisco 49ers, but one version caught the attention of Bay Area sports radio veteran Larry Krueger this week because it was just a bit too accurate.
The take in question came via a selectively edited clip from “The Rich Eisen Show,” in which Eisen said San Francisco should take calls about quarterback Trey Lance when Brock Purdy fully recovers from his elbow injury and gets back into shape.
“Now if Purdy starts throwing and he shows up and he can go to training camp and they look at him and they’re like, ‘Oh, he looks just like last year’s boy,’ and he’s not sitting there with his. “If he has an arm in the ice and does what he has to do in training camp and if he does what he has to do in the first pre-season game, then he’s your guy,” Eisen said on Tuesday’s show.
“Then suddenly they’ll be taking calls for Lance again,” Eisen continued. “That’s the guy. Because he’s the one with a fifth-year option that’s going to go through the roof. And if the Niners want to send him somewhere else so they don’t have to worry about it and have to make that decision after they’ve barely seen him, then leave that to someone else.”
It’s worth noting that this clip was less than a minute of a much longer segment of Eisen talking about the Niners’ quarterbacks.
Krueger, who has been sports talk at KNBR for more than 25 years, hinted Thursday that NFL Network’s Rich Eisen has 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch right in his ear about the Niners’ quarterback situation in the upcoming season is concerned.
— Sportslarryk Twitter
“Eisen clearly has a connection to the #49ers front office,” Krueger, 53, tweeted. “He’s a big Lynch/Shanahan fan. I don’t remember him ever criticizing either of them. He just laid out their QB game plan and mindset. What do you think? Does Rich have that much insight into each team’s position battles or is he parroting what they told him?”
Not to mention that Eisen is a pro football connoisseur (and has been for most of his life), there’s still little in Eisen’s view that suggests the Niners would provide him with details about their quarterback plans in supply this season. A few minutes before the clip begins, Eisen remarked, “For me, the best scenario for San Francisco is Brock Purdy being the guy,” suggesting this is all speculation. He then paid Lance a series of compliments, saying he thinks he has “the biggest advantage” in the Niners’ quarterback room.
In the final part before the start of the Twitter clip, Eisen points out that Purdy’s seventh-round contract is more favorable to the Niners than Trey Lance’s early first-round deal, since Purdy’s deal is much more favorable. Then the clip begins.
Anything Eisen notes is pretty much common knowledge to any big football fan, let alone someone who plays the sport for a living. Additionally, Eisen said before the draft that the Niners shouldn’t trade Lance for his own sake, given all the injuries that happened last year. Even here, all he’s suggesting is that the Niners take calls — which probably every team with this kind of quarterback jam should do.
If Eisen got the big inside snippet that Kruger claims, he’d likely reveal much more interesting news, like when Purdy will definitely be back, or if second place goes to Lance or Sam Darnold. Instead, we’ve only received speculation from a longtime professional football watcher who’s apparently so good at his job that his opinions sound like Niners trade secrets to people who jump to conclusions based on Twitter clips.
