QB Carousel: Bonta Hill, 95.7 The Game Host

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A dynamic search for NCAA March Madness right here in the Odyssey app to get started. Step right up here. Don't be shy. The Super Bowl is over, but the NFL quarterback carousel is just beginning. You've got to ask yourself a question.

Do I feel lucky? What does the future hold for all 32 NFL teams at the QB position? Now I'm going to give you an opportunity to spin this wheel right here. Let's spin the wheel and find out which teams we hit today. The San Francisco 49ers. Alright, let's chat a little bit about the San Francisco 49ers right now. But Bonta Hill does a great job in the morning.

Roasts 95-7 the game out in the Bay Area. Bonta, appreciate the time. How are you? Goodie time, Jack. How you doing, buddy?

Well, I'm doing fantastic. So, really, the big sense from the league meetings, from what the 49ers said, is that if Brock Purdy is healthy, he's going to be the starting quarterback come week one. Did that catch you guys by surprise, or was that pretty much what you guys expected to hear from John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan, and company? It's what we expected to hear, and we're happy to hear it, because the quarterback position here at San Francisco, as you know, has been a big mystery. Last year, you had Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. Heck, the last two years, where Shanahan, two years ago before the 2021 season, basically would say that, yeah, we haven't made the starter. I think we know who it is.

It was just a big secret. Then last year, of course, Jimmy Garoppolo signed late in the training, kept the backup to Trey Lance, is a player to Trey Lance. Of course, breaks his ankle in week two against Seattle. So, with the way Brock Purdy played, with the way the players have talked about Brock Purdy, most notably George Kittle, Brennan Iudivo, Samuel, we're not shocked that John Lynch would say that. However, the next day, Shanahan did say that, hey, Darnold, Trey Lance, and Brock Purdy, once you get there, are going to compete for the starting job.

So, it's not a surprise that John Lynch came out and said, and we hear the clubhouse, and why wouldn't he, right? Eight games, he played really well, up in the Niners, getting to the energy championship. We haven't seen Trey Lance at all. We've seen him for four games. In only one game, we've seen him throw the ball to George Kittle, so we just don't know about Trey Lance right now.

So, to answer the question, Zach, I know it was long winded there, but we're not surprised at all. What are the expectations if Brock Purdy's healthy for week one? I know the team, right, is thinking Super Bowl, but what do you expect individually out of Brock Purdy?

I expect, hopefully, build off of that, although I do have concerns about his body type. Katie would stand 17 weeks of football against big, ferocious defenses, and you know the Niners will play the ANC North next year, so you've got Baltimore's defense, you've got Pittsburgh, you've got Cincinnati, and you've got Cleveland. Can he hold up over the course of a season? We saw once he got deeper into the playoffs, and once defenses got faster, heck, the last four first halves, I know there's always second half adjustments, but we saw some struggles from Brock Purdy, and how much tape will teams now have on Brock Purdy to say, okay, we're going to take some of these things away, like him running around the pocket, turning his entire back to the line of scrimmage before even throwing an incompletion, or throwing a dive downfield when defenses catch up to that. So the expectations remain the same in terms of the 49ers in Super Bowl or bust. However, individually, with Brock Purdy, it's going to look like Jimmy Garoppolo at least early on, and if they see an offense with all these weapons averaging maybe 30 points a game, because let's face it, Brock Purdy had a lot more weapons than Jimmy Garoppolo ever had as a quarterback of the 49ers because Chris McCaffrey's in the backfield, because George Skittle is running down a team, and of course, Purdy now is going over a stopping guard. So the expectations may be a bit higher because of his mobility, but it wouldn't shock me if it looked a lot like Jimmy Garoppolo did in 2021 and 2019.

Bonta Hill here with us from the game out in the Bay Area. Where is the fan base at on Trey Lance? Are people just done with him already? It's actually a great question, and it feels like Trey Lance, it feels like a lot of people feel like he's a bust. And it's unfortunate because we just haven't seen enough of him.

And from what we've seen, I've seen promises. I've seen the guy throw the ball down the field. I've seen, you know, he's not Lamar Jackson. He's not going to be Randall Cunningham running out the pocket, but he's a big guy with a powerful arm who can evade pressure when he needs to.

I think the fan base is not, let me tell you, it's the Darnell side, right? And the initial reaction was, oh, he's going to be a Thursday quarterback. Well, you just heard from Shanahan and Lynch this week that Darnell's going to have, he's going to be able to split first team reps in OTAs. And he's had a lot of experience in the league now. Has he been good? No. But has he been in a situation like this in San Francisco?

No, he hasn't. So he's going to have an opportunity to go toe-to-toe with Trey Lynch, and it's a real big disappointment when you consider the draft. Capital of the Niners straightened up for that number three overall pick to go select Trey Lynch.

And when you whiff on that pick, number three overall, you have the track record. Look, the 49ers are drafted great in the middle round, Jack. They picked up Fred Warner. They picked up George Kittle. They picked up Talamilla who fought against strong safety. They made a lot of good picks in the middle round. Think about all the first round picks. Mike McGlunchy, gone. Kind of a disappointment. Talamilla Thomas, number three overall in their first ever draft, gone.

Ruben Foster, no longer in the league. Brandon Iucas has probably been their best pick with Javon Kinlaw. Has it panned out? They have whipped over and over on first round picks, and this would be a massive blunder.

Now, thankfully, it hasn't set them back. But the fan base is thinking, what about Trey? You don't even hear names, Jack. That's how bad it is.

I've been yelling out of the airwaves the last two months. Well, what about Trey? What about Trey? And everybody says, well, what about Brock? What about Brock? And now the Darnold height trade is going to start because I know how this fan base is, and I know how this coaching staff is. Folks who are out on Trey Legend is actually very, very disappointing.

And it's inconceivable to me. Like, if you tell me Brock Purdy's healthy, sure. I could see why you'd make him the starting quarterback with what he did at the end of the year.

But I don't believe in a million years with how training camp isn't what it once was. And there's only three preseason games that Sam Darnold, who, by the way, is a bust, is going to significantly outplay Trey Lance, where everyone's like, okay, we have to go with Darnold over Lance for week one. Well, don't underestimate Kyle Shanahan. I mean, this is a guy who tried to convince his fan base that Nick Mullins could be the answer at quarterback. And he actually selected C.J.

Becker in the third round when he did take Solomon Thomas in the number three overall. And Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes are sitting on the board. This is the way Shanahan's do it. And the way Shanahan spoke about Sam Darnold at the owners' meetings earlier this week in Phoenix, Arizona, he talked about, hey, this guy was a number three overall pick coming out of USC.

He had as good a skill set as anybody in the league. And maybe it's just coach speak. But I truly believe Sam Darnold believes that.

This is a guy who said Darnold deniers had been rumored over and over about being interested in. It's insanity if they played Darnold week one. But Shanahan is insane.

Think about it. He told Garoppolo after changing this organization, yeah, I'd rather have Kirk Cousins. I mean, openly during the week of Super Bowl 54, I want Cousins.

Yeah. You know, the flirtation with Tom Brady, the flirtation with Matthew Stafford. He's flirting with getting there every single quarterback. So sometimes I just think Shanahan doesn't know what he wants at the quarterback spot. Does he want a guy who could be a bit mobile? Does he want to just stationary quarterback?

I have no idea. But I'm telling you, man, there'll be surprises. Sam Darnold starts a couple games. Now, am I a fan of Sam Darnold?

No, I'm not. I saw a lot of being here on the West Coast. Obviously, we watch a lot of USC football.

Some games are great. And then next thing you know, you see the boneheaded pick six. We all can't forget about Monday Night Football. We saw ghosts against the New England Patriots. I can't unhear that.

I can't unsee it, Zach. So, look, anything is possible because Shanahan believes it's about his system, not the player. He believes his system brings out the best of the quarterback, not the quarterback bringing the best out of the system. And then the last thing here, I think it's so clear, and I've been saying this for a while, but if that's true that Darnold starts over Trey Lance, it just shows you that Shanahan was talked into taking Trey Lance, and he never really loved him as a quarterback.

Yeah, I mean, that's the biggest mystery, right? Everybody says, oh, well, was he talked into it? Well, from what I hear is that Shanahan really wanted him. Now, you look at Justin Fields and the way he improved in Chicago and of course, his mobility and all the quarterbacks, all the quarterback catch that Justin Fields attended of Kyle Shanahan, and he passed him up, which shocked us all. But you talk to the North Dakota State coach, the name is Evade Me, but he discussed how the Niners kept going up there, going up there, going up there, and they had an inkling that, hey, the Niners really liked Trey Lance. This will be a massive win, and luckily for Shanahan, this roster is so deep and so loaded when you look at the tight end, the wide receivers, the running backs, the DBs, the linebackers, and of course, the D line, that it hasn't cost them. Think about how many teams would whiff on a quarterback, number three overall. It's remarkable.

It costs people jobs. It is remarkable. Yet, Shanahan is going to enter year six with no solution at quarterback.

It's really wild. Because it's funny, Bonta Hill, before we let you run, if like any other organization messed up the quarterback with all they gave up, we'd be like, fire the GM, fire the coach, but that's not even talked about with the Niners because they still find the way, it feels like, to get to the NFC title game each and every year. They still find a way because they run the ball, they physically beat up people, they have a great defense. Obviously, you're signing Jayvon Hargrave away from Philadelphia, which is a nice signing. They get after the quarterback. You got Nick Bosa, the DPOY.

It's really fascinating. But look, think about how their season has ended. They get off the slow starts, one, because the offense is not clicking, because of the uncertainty at quarterback. That's cost them home games in the playoffs. It would have been a lot better to host Philadelphia at Levi's Stadium than going all the way to Philadelphia to get your butts kicked. But, when you lose to Chicago and Denver early on in the season, because of the uncertainty at quarterback, because the offense is not clicking, because of the injuries, it just, it wears on you. 2021, you had to play all three teams on the road in the NFC playoffs. You go to Green Bay, you win without scoring an offensive touchdown. You survive in Dallas, but yet, against the Rams, you just wear down.

So, they got to get off the quicker starts, and getting off the quicker starts is knowing who's going to play quarterback. I think about this, Zach. If you're ready to IU, Kadivo Samuel, and you're going out there working out, who keeps the call to go work out with? Are you calling Ted Darnell? Are you calling Trey Lance?

Because you're not calling Brock Burden, because his elbow is wrapped up in this big old brace that looks like Terminator or T-1000 or something like that, and Terminator 2 or something. It's Darby, right? Who do you catch passes from to the off season? Do you work out with Trey?

Do you work out with Ted Darnell? It's got to be Trey. As a wide receiver. It's got to be Trey. You will think, you will think you owe him that, but like, the way the players talk about Trey, and the way, it's been a nasty narrative written about him.

And it's not fair. Well, we thought he was smarter than what he was. Oh, well, we thought he was Lamar Jackson.

Yeah, he's not developing as well as we thought. Well, that's on you, Kyle Shanahan. That's on you, John Lynch. That's on the 49ers brass. So if it doesn't work out in a quarterback, and Darnell does end up starting the game where Purdy's not ready, you know, Shanahan said maybe he's ready by week one, but I doubt it.

You know what I'm saying? I don't think he's going to be ready by week one whatsoever. This could have long-term ramifications on this football team, because George Kittle's not getting any younger. Trent Williams is not getting any younger. Christian McCaffrey, we know about his injury history. We were lucky to see him stay healthy. Is that going to happen again?

I don't know. So it's really interesting what's happening with the quarterback position. And I know the rumors about R. Jackson. They paid J.

Von Hargrave. I don't think Lamar Jackson's coming to San Francisco. And hell, I don't want Lamar Jackson in San Francisco, because I think Shanahan would know how to use him. All his quarterbacks get hurt. So that's another situation with Kyle Shanahan in the 49ers, and yet we're talking about a team that's gone to three industry championships in the last four years in a Super Bowl appearance. But until you win the big one, and can you win the big one with the quarterback situation in San Francisco, that's a million-dollar question. That is a million-dollar question, Zach. So you took care of the Lamar question. Any shot that they get Brady out of retirement at some point this season?

I... It's a great question. Would Brady want to play for $10 to $15 million? Does Brady really want to retire? Does he want to stick it to the league?

I don't know. I still think there's some phone calls happening with Tom Brady, because Shanahan does love the veteran quarterbacks. But right now, I'm doubting it.

I'm doubting that Brady will ever step foot on the field for the 49ers. Bon to hell. Appreciate the time, as always. Thank you. Zach, any time, brother. Thank you so much for being with us today, and we'll see you in the next one.