Getty Trey Lance versus the Cardinals on October 10, 2021.
Trey Lance is already the most scrutinized non-starting quarterback from last season heading into the fall 2022 period with the San Francisco 49ers.
It’s understandable because of the following: He’s a top five draft pick, he’s handling the quarterback reins over Jimmy Garoppolo who took the 49ers to Super Bowl 54 and last season’s NFC title game and lastly, he’s playing behind center for one of the league’s most celebrated franchises with a bevy of Hall of Famers and five Vince Lombardi Trophies attached to them.
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As Bleacher Report’s Joe Tansey wrote on the morning of Wednesday, June 22, “Trey Lance could turn into a star in the NFL.” However, Tansey mentioned how quarterback represents one of three “biggest weaknesses ahead of 2022 NFL Training Camp.”
And most telling, Tansey gave Lance a telling low ranking among signal-callers in his own division.
Where Lance is Ranked
Here’s where Tansey plugged the incoming starter.
“At best, Lance enters the season as the No. 3 quarterback in the NFC West,” Tansey wrote. “But that is not saying much given the disaster on the Seattle Seahawks’ roster after the Russell Wilson trade.”
So basically, Tansey is saying that Lance is slightly better than Drew Lock…or Geno Smith.
Obviously, this division has star power at QB. Matthew Stafford enters the season as the defending Super Bowl champion signal-caller for the Los Angeles Rams. Kyler Murray has emerged as a household name in the league with the Arizona Cardinals.
Lance, meanwhile, is heading into the season with a “jury’s out” type scenario. There are analysts who are already sold on Lance after the small samples they’ve seen from him during practices. Others, though, aren’t too sold and have the “bust” label on their keyboard ready to be typed out.
On Tansey’s end, he’s among the population wondering if Lance will have some rust from his North Dakota State days.
“No one knows with full certainty what kind of quarterback Lance will be in his first season as a starter because he has not played much in the last three years,” Tansey said. “Lance missed his final season at North Dakota State because the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the FCS season to spring during the player’s draft preparations. He started two games in relief of Garoppolo last season, but that is too small of a sample size to judge a quarterback’s career.”
Then came this “disadvantage” description by the NFL analyst/writer.
“The 49ers are at a disadvantage compared to other teams across the league when it comes to their starting quarterback,” Tansey said.
Early ‘Good News’ for Lance
Tansey, though, brought up that something good could come early for Lance and S.F.
“The good news for the 49ers is that the Seahawks and Chicago Bears are the first two teams on their regular-season schedule,” Tansey said.
Seattle is entering the season as the preseason pick to finish dead last. The Bears, who settled on Justin Fields in the same draft class as Lance, are under a regime change.
“San Francisco could work out some of Lance’s flaws inside its system against two rebuilding teams before facing the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams in Weeks 3 and 4,” Tansey said. “In fact, the 49ers could have the edge at quarterback in four of their first six games, but that is not saying much given what is happening in Chicago, Seattle, Carolina and Atlanta.”
However, Tansey concludes with, “The 49ers will be at a disadvantage in experience and talent at the position for most of the season starting in Week 7. They need Lance to live up to his first-round expectations in order to compete for a playoff spot in the NFC. If not, the 49ers could be stuck second-guessing the Lance-over-Garoppolo decision while scrapping for wins during the second half of the season.”