Trey Lance’s time as a member of the San Francisco 49ers has been turbulent, to say the least. Since being drafted third overall by the 49ers in 2021, Lance has struggled to find his footing in the NFL.
The 22-year-old quarterback entered the NFL with only one year of college experience at a FCS school in North Dakota State. It was already expected that Lance would take some time to develop. There are problems with this situation.
Trey Lance’s injuries, youth have stunted his development early on
For one, Trey Lance has not been able to develop because he has not been able to stay on the field consistently. Some of that is on Kyle Shanahan who continuously ran Lance into harm’s way on quarterback power. That play requires the quarterback to run straight into the line-of-scrimmage, instead of running to the outside where there is more space. That is exactly the play that Lance broke his ankle on last season in week two.
Secondly, the former first-overall pick was entering a situation where he did not necessarily have the luxury of time. When Lance was in the draft process, the 49ers had recently been to a Super Bowl, and the one position that was holding them back from getting over the hump was the quarterback position. Jimmy Garoppolo has proven time and time again that he is neither durable nor good enough to win a Super Bowl. In addition to San Francisco in win-now mode, the team also traded three first-round picks to move up and select Lance.
The amount of pressure for a 21-year-old quarterback with limited experience in college at a lower-level program can be overwhelming. It’s the NFL, so there is going to be little sympathy for Lance, but high expectations paired with little experience is the main reason why this experiment in San Francisco seems to be coming to an end.
Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday that the 49ers were receiving calls regarding Lance’s availability.
"“The 49ers have received inquiries from several teams looking into a potential trade for former No. 3 pick quarterback Trey Lance,” Rapoport said. “The conversations have been the result of San Francisco fielding the calls, not making them, with teams aware that Brock Purdy is likely the future starter.”"
With that being said, there are a number of teams that could be great solutions for Lance and his future.