Getty San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance running away from his potential new teammate Jerry Hughes of the Houston Texans.
With the NFL world still grappling with the revelation that the San Francisco 49ers “have received inquiries from several teams looking into a potential trade for former No. 3 pick QB Trey Lance,” according to NFL.com Insider Ian Rapoport, fans and writers alike from across the professional football landscape have wondered where the North Dakota State quarterback could be slinging passes from next. In the opinion of Bleacher Report
“Remember, new Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans came over from San Francisco,” Moton wrote. “So he’s had an up-close look at Lance over the past two years. If the young quarterback made a decent impression on the 49ers’ former defensive coordinator, Houston may opt to send a middle-round pick for him.
“The Texans could go into training camp with Davis Mills and Lance in a battle for the starting position. In the event that the latter shows enough promise, Houston could avoid settling for someone in this year’s class and still get its quarterback of the future.”
With the 2023 NFL draft officially less than a week away, how the Texans use their two top-15 picks will be a topic of heavy speculation. If general manager Nick Caserio believes one of this year’s top edge rushers, Will Anderson or Tyree Wilson, are better prospects than C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson, and Will Levis and all three of those quarterbacks are gone by pick 12 – or if Caserio again has a player higher on his board – Lance may become a very interesting option under center.
DeMeco Ryans May Want to Draft His Nick Bosa
Discussing all of the information he’s learned over the last week for his Football Morning in America column for NBC Sports, Peter King shared a very interesting bit of insight into why the Texans may opt against selecting a quarterback at pick number two and who the team may select in their place.
“I will not be surprised if, in the Edge category, Tyree Wilson is picked ahead of Will Anderson,” King wrote. “I particularly will not be surprised if Houston—whether at two or through a trade-down if the Texans don’t take a quarterback—takes Wilson over Anderson. ‘DeMeco Ryans could look at Wilson after his year in San Francisco and say, ‘I got my Nick Bosa,” said someone in the league who knows Ryans.”
Will Wilson, let alone Anderson, hear his name called with the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft? Only time will tell, but if Stroud, Richardson, and Levis all remain on the board when the Arizona Cardinals go on the clock, things will become very interesting indeed.
Texans Fans Open to Acquiring the San Francisco 49ers QB
With news of Lance drawing interest from other teams around the NFL the hot topic of conversation, Nick Schwager of SB Nation’s Battle Red Blog weighed in on whether the Texans should be interested in Lance.
“Should the Houston Texans be interested?” Schwager asked. “That depends on a few things. First, are the Texans comfortable passing on the quarterbacks available in this upcoming draft? They may be. The Texans are rumored to be all in on Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, but it looks like he will be selected first overall by the Carolina Panthers. Many around the league seem to believe the Texans are not sold on any quarterback outside of Young. Texans General Manager Nick Caserio has a tendency to keep things quiet and not let many things leak; therefore, it may all be speculation.
“If the rumors are true, and the Texans decide to pass on selecting a quarterback, trading for Lance may be a low-risk, high-reward type of move. Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, along with offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, both have been with the 49ers and know Lance well. If they believe he can come in and be that guy, it may be worth a shot.”
If Caserio truly isn’t sold on any of the quarterbacks in the 2023 class outside of Young, then the Texans may instead decide that bringing in a player like Lance, who spent his entire professional career with Ryans and Slowik in San Francisco, presents a high enough reward to justify the risk.