Report: 49ers still plan to replace Jimmy Garoppolo with Trey Lance

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has received praise for playing through a Grade 3 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb and chipped bone and, more recently, through a "slight" sprain to his right (throwing) shoulder during the postseason tournament. While Garoppolo has the lowest total QBR (40.0) among signal-callers still active ahead of conference championship Sunday, per ESPN stats, some have wondered if his latest winning streak has the 49ers reconsidering their plan of having rookie Trey Lance eventually replace Jimmy G atop the depth chart. 

According to David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport spoke about the club's quarterback situation during an appearance on local radio station KNBR on Monday afternoon. 

"I hate to sound like a broken record, but I kind of see it to where it was," Rapoport explained. "Unless I'm missing something, I haven't seen anything that has changed where this is all going, which is with Trey Lance eventually being the franchise guy. Garoppolo is the starter now, and I would say not everything goes according to plan in life, in football, in everything, but this kind of has been the 49ers' plan." 

Rapoport continued: 

"Remember, they thought, before the season, they had a playoff-ready roster and that Garoppolo was the best person to get them to the playoffs. That happened. He is the best person to be in the playoffs with them. This has happened. And then, after the season, I would imagine they take a hard long look at it and say, 'Has Jimmy Garoppolo done anything to change our mind that Trey Lance is the future starter?

"My guess is the answer is, 'No,' but it's OK because everyone's going to be fine. Garoppolo, assuming they go through with a trade, is going to end up great. He's going to make some money. Trey Lance is going to be great. He'll be the starter at some point. And then everybody will move forward, and that's a pretty good transition if you ask me." 

NFL analysts often point out that a quarterback's record can deceive, particularly if that individual is "carried" to victories by something such as a dominant defense or an impressive rushing attack. However, Garoppolo could be just four quarters away from making a second career Super Bowl appearance as San Francisco's QB1, and there's something to be said for his consistent ability to earn January wins even if he isn't producing Hall-of-Fame numbers in playoff games.