The San Francisco 49ers will have a new quarterback under center for the 2022 season. After five years with Jimmy Garoppolo, head coach Kyle Shanahan is handing the keys to sophomore quarterback Trey Lance.

Lance reportedly struggled in 49ers training camp but had a promising preseason debut. He'll have to keep the impressive performances up as expectations for him continue to grow.

Previous praise for Lance shows the 49ers have confidence that the young quarterback has the potential to become a star in the league. However, Shanahan made a rather interesting admission recently.

Speaking to Peter King of NBC Sports, Shanahan spoke about Lance's readiness for the role he's taking on. “Is Trey ready to take it on his shoulders?” Shanahan said. “He shouldn’t be. He hasn’t gone through it enough.”

Shanahan certainly believes in his quarterback. And he definitely doesn't believe Lance's rawness as a player will break their season. However, he acknowledged it was a tough position for Lance to be in.

“I believe in him as a man, as a person. I believe in his talent.” Shanahan said. “I don’t think he is going to make or break our season, just like in 2019 and last year, I didn’t think Jimmy was going to make or break our season.

“But what sucks is when you’re learning how to play and you’re not there yet, how do you not get worse sometimes when that pressure’s on you and you need to go through the growing pains?” the 49ers coach said.

Lance played just one full season in his collegiate career, coming in 2019. The North Dakota State product watched as the 2020 FCS season was canceled by COVID-19 in 2020. Lance then played just six games last season, starting only two of them.

While he hasn't received a ton of game reps recently, Lance still feels confident in his abilities. “Mentally,” he told King, “I feel like things are a lot more clear for me. I understand the offense, and I’m able to play fast.”