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49ers' Jimmy Garoppolo on Trey Lance Pick: 'You Just Try to Make the Best of It'
May 25, 2021
Jimmy Garoppolo's time as the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback appears to be nearing its end after the team selected North Dakota State signal-caller Trey Lance with the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
Despite that inevitability, Garoppolo is saying all the right things as he works with his likely successor.
“The situation is what it is, it’s not changing, so you just try to make the best of it,” Garoppolo said, per David Lombardi of The Athletic.
The 49ers moved from No. 12 to No. 3 to put themselves in position to pick Lance, who led NDSU to a Division I-FCS title in 2019.
That drastic move up foretold a quarterback selection, and Garoppolo spoke about how he felt when the deal went down.
"When it initially happened, there’s a million emotions going on in the head and you think of possible scenarios," Garoppolo said per Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News.
"At the end day I want to play football. It wasn’t too crazy to process everything but once I did I wanted to go play ball."
Garoppolo has been the 49ers' QB1 since the tail end of the 2017 season. Unfortunately, a torn ACL in 2018 and a sprained ankle in 2020 kept him off the field for a combined 23 games.
He did lead the 49ers to an NFC title in 2019, but San Francisco has opted to make a change at the position.
So far, everything seems OK between Lance and Garoppolo.
“The relationship between me and Trey will happen naturally," Garoppolo said about his relationship with the rookie, per Lombardi. "You don’t want to force it too much, you don’t want to make it fake."
Garoppolo also said Lance has "been cool" and that he reached out to Lance on draft night:
The 49ers are currently holding offseason team activities, which began Monday and will end on June 10.