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Dallas offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has revealed the Cowboys will speak to former 49ers quarterback Trey Lance to gain insights ahead of the trip to San Francisco.
The Cowboys face their toughest test of the season so far on Sunday with a trip to San Francisco. Dallas takes on the undefeated 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in a game that could have serious ramifications for the rest of the season.
Cowboys will seek insights from Trey Lance on 49ers’ strategies ahead of Week 5 clash
The matchup will see quarterback Trey Lance return to the place he once called home for the first time since his trade. The 49ers traded the former first-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys in late August after an underwhelming first two years in San Francisco.
Things may not have gone how Trey envisioned in San Fran, however, the Cowboys now have the opportunity to leverage his insider knowledge ahead of the game.
The quarterback is intensely familiar with Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system and repeatedly faced the 49ers defense in practice. That can surely help the Cowboys ahead of Sunday’s game, and you best believe they intend to tap into any insights he may have.
Brian Schottenheimer – “We’ll definitely talk to Trey”
“Trey knows a little bit about what they’re doing,” Dallas offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer recently told reporters. “The cool thing is, like I said, the [Cowboys] know them well, I know them well from being in Seattle, Trey knows them well. Like last week, it’s kind of in good fun and humor. We all use pieces that we have in place, but we don’t go too far into it.
“We can know exactly what they’re going to do, because they don’t do too much, and they’re still really, really tough to go against just because they’re so talented. … We’ll definitely talk to Trey. He knows a lot of the pieces going against them in practice, but it doesn’t always help, as we learned yesterday.”
Schottenheimer is right to point out that insider information doesn’t always work. The Cowboys steamrolled the Patriots in Week 4 despite former Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott playing for New England. Whatever insights he had did little to impact the 38-3 score-line.
However, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area gave his thoughts on how Lance can help his new team.
“The only useful information Trey Lance might be able to share with his new team is insight into how the 49ers perceived the Cowboys’ defensive strengths and weaknesses heading into their playoff matchup in January (Assuming Lance was in on all those meetings),” Maiocco wrote via Twitter.
Lance’s path remains unclear
It’s been a rollercoaster journey so far for the No. 3 overall draft pick. Injuries and the ascension of Brock Purdy hampered Lance’s time with the 49ers, and now he finds himself as the No. 3 quarterback in Dallas, behind Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush.
It remains to be seen what the plan for him moving forward is, but he certainly adds depth for the Cowboys at the quarterback position.
Barring injuries he’ll unlikely face his old team this weekend. The Cowboys and 49ers have faced off twice in the playoffs in the past two years, with San Francisco coming out on top both occasions. Lance was on the team for both those wins, so hopefully he’ll be able to provide some valuable insight into the team’s tactics this weekend.