SANTA CLARA — It was Aug. 12, 2022 and the future of 49ers football was on display.

On third-and-9 from the 49ers’ 24-yard line, second-year quarterback Trey Lance launched a perfectly timed pass toward rookie speedster Danny Gray against the Green Bay Packers. Gray caught it at the Green Bay 45 in stride and streaked into the end zone.

There it was. The quarterback Kyle Shanahan gambled on with the third pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, throwing to the SMU speedster the 49ers took in the third round in 2022. It was going to be high-octane Kyle, embracing a different kind of a quarterback while eschewing the shallow crosses and choice routes so popular to his system in favor of downfield passing and designed quarterback runs.

It never happened.

Lance was back at the scene of perhaps his mos

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